Starlings
And then you might learn, as we did from a local, that the reason hundreds of starlings in flight will twist and turn in unison is because the ones on the outside are constantly trying to get to the inside where they feel safer.
— Bill Bryson
Twilight, and the skies are prematurely grey
As starlings, a throbbing, swirling swarm
Eclipse the last vestiges of the autumn day.
There’s foreboding! Aye, an incipient storm!
The starling cloud dazzles in the hoary sky
Twisting, turning into a narrow waist
Then wildly pulsating in the heavens high
Enlarging, contracting in arrhythmic haste!
Alas! A feeling of gloom permeates the air
The wind chills, nimbus clouds welcome not
Leaves fallen, forest trees all but bare.
Dismal panorama renders one distraught!
All creatures hide; save for a solitary hare
Frozen! In a moment of indecision, caught!
Red, brown leaves hover in the stiff breeze
Eddies, spinning in rapid centrifugal motion
Like miniature twisters beneath tall trees
Each leaf a lost ship in a turbulent ocean
The footpath between the trees, hit by rain
Large droplets that devoured ones smaller
Dust clouds rise up, a toe-tapping refrain
As petrichor aroma masks the world’s pallor!
But soon torrents gushed from leaden skies
Lightning flashes and thunderclaps follow
Footpath a river becomes as floodwaters rise
And leaves float past a tree trunk hollow
The trunk’s tenants fearful, they agonize!
For their world the waters will soon swallow
Barren fields inundated by sheets of water
Starlings on tree branches and tension wires
Gargoyles surveilling the unfolding theater
Silent sentinels; emperors strumming lyres!
Unrelenting rain, darkness cloaks the land
Felt by all; fear, apprehension and dread
Persecuted by nature’s unforgiving hand
An ebony world, light and virtue have fled!
Creatures cower, hunkered in their lairs
Fearful of punishing wind and slashing rain
Roars of thunder interrupt fervent prayers
And with each lightning strike, hopes drain!
As dreams fade away, replaced by nightmares
Any and all things simply futile and vain!
But from the northern hills, a mighty gale
Descends and blows the furious tempest away
Clouds depart; to brilliant stars, all hail!
The moon illumes the sky, puts gloom at bay
Alas! The land’s desolate, the outlook grim
Perhaps it’ll take a while for all to recover
The fields submerged, levees over the brim
And the indecisive hare appears lost forever
But blessings on the world, light has returned
Starlings remain on branches and power lines
Glistening in the moonlight, unconcerned!
To all other creatures, provident signs -
Peace and serenity are back, the corner turned
Life’s normal again beneath the pines...
08-15-2022
Vic Evora
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