Look at them standing there. Observe 
sheer puzzlement in their demeanours.

Two stand together, another pair close; 
farther away, a straggler wandering,

lost in soliloquy. They all inch along, 
tentative as octogenarians, carping, no doubt

concerning the pond’s unacceptable state,
the thick ice beneath their webbed feet.

It is March. The Canada Geese are back,
prepared to get on with their life work 

of nests, eggs, and goslings, who will, 
in turn, take their place here a future March.

The essential ingredient lacking from their 
home-making agenda — water. So they stand, 

muttering to one another, perhaps discussing 
alternative strategies, new nest locations.

They edge out across the ice, purposeless
as movie extras shown up on the wrong set.

From A Thief of Impeccable Taste (SandCrab Books, 2011).
Used with the author’s permission.