Snow Geese on Sugar Lake

Cacophonous cries pierce the air

as thousands of white-winged geese

descend upon the marsh, packed together

like sardines, latecomers shoving others

for position, nestling close, feet paddling.

Then as if by signal, they begin

to lift off again, their black-tipped wings

rotating like tiny propellers whirring

and splattering across a dusty pink sky.

Soon they splotch the rippling water

with feathery tufts again, dozing in the sun

before they continue their spiral dance,

weaving back and forth, dipping and gliding

in zigzag patterns above the glassy lake.