March Migration

Tomorrow, 3/15 is Wis People and Ideas deadline. I don’t think this is “heavy enough” for WP&I , but it’s a poem I have been working on ever since I saw those strollers in the news. I played with line length, went for long and narrow, like a journey.

March Migration
Red wing blackbirds
and robins
have returned
on their journey
of instinct.
Hear them call
from bare treetops,
or perched on
bending marsh reeds, 
snow on the ground
ice in rivers.
No fresh seeds
or bug hatch to feed on,
no worms to pull,
asleep below frostline,
yet birds survive
travel early,
scrounge.

Ukrainians
leave everything
flock to
outbound trains,
Poland and beyond,
migrate
to parts unknown,
their young
tucked under
puffy coats
and fleecy blankets,
bending
to kindness extended.
Polish women
bring strollers
to the station
lined up like birds
on a wire.

03/15/2022 after edits, (changed a number of things) Here’s what I sent in. Each stanza 15 lines.

Migration – March 2022

Red wing blackbirds
and robins
have returned,
a journey of instinct.
Hear them call
from bare treetops,
or clinging to
bending marsh reeds, 
snow on the ground
ice in rivers.
No fresh seeds
or bug hatch to feed on,
no worms to pull,
asleep below frostline,
yet birds survive.

People from Ukraine
leave everything
flock to outbound trains,
Poland and beyond,
migrate with
their young
tucked under
puffy coats
and fleecy blankets,
bending to kindness
as Polish women
bring strollers
to the station
lined up like birds
on a wire.