Something Told the Wild Geese

"I looked back and shed a tear,

To see it in the rear view mirror.

I said I'd just be gone a couple months,

And now it's more than 30 years."      From   Hymn of the Exiles

Something told the wild geese
it was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, "snow."


Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned "frost."


All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spices,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.


Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

Rachel Field
classification:  The Good Earth

It's been more than 30 years since I lived where I could hear the Canada Geese migrate.
In Virginia, I sleep with the window open above my bed, snuggled under the quilts
and I hear the geese honking as they fly overhead.  I'd forgotten what a pleasure it was to hear them.