Driving to the next hurried errand
with a list swimming in my head,
I brake for the web-footed family—
not crossing the road,
but walking tall in a single straight line
headed in the opposite direction—
five dark gray long-necked profiles
observing the slow lane,
cars behind them crawling.
I hear myself exclaim delight
at this sweet, slow-moving sight.
A sunny sermon
quietly breaks through—
not citing lilies of the field
or birds of the air
but a family of geese—
right here on the blacktop.
From Simple Awakenings (2010).
This poem previously appeared in the St. Anthony Messenger.
Used here with the author's permission.
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