I sit on my almost frosty front porch
wrapped in your blue fleece
hot cacao steaming in my cup.
An echelon of geese
in perfect and cacophonous formation
angle overhead.
How does the lead bird communicate exhaustion
I wonder, not through text and doubtful
through aggression or harsh words,
no fast lane or road rage.
Is there resentment from its phalanx
when fatigue sets in?
Geese have collective understanding;
they shift lanes based on principles
found in Emma’s Anarchist’s Handbook.
The harmony from being in unison
is astounding.
Voluntary cooperation
like protozoa
like planets
These geese are a revolution
An angular liberation.
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Ilyse Simon is a nutrition therapist by day, a writer by night, and a mom in between. Her professional credits include Today’s Dietitian, Roanoke’s City Magazine, and Tri County Woman. She had a monthly column in VegNews Magazine and the Woodstock Times. She has been a contributing writer to Chronogram and an essayist for WAMC. Her poetry has been published in Chronogram and Critica. She is also a frequent storyteller with TMI and Woodstock Bookfest. www.IlyseSimonRD.com
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