Water surrounds them,
Collected,
Gathered,
Searching.
Tongue pokes out;
Smiles for the camera.
Still photographs;
Hole in trousers;
Woollen hats
Protect from cold.

“I think I saw something!
Was that an animal?”
Canoes resting
By the water;
“Look up there!”
They head towards the shore.
“Let’s go!”
And then the sky explodes
Above their heads
A storm erupts.

Ribbon of black
A living cloud bank,
Curling, waving, shaking,
Moving back and forward,
Twisting, spinning, turning,
Forming patterns
To shape the wind.
Come together, dive apart
Tangling the sky
To draw the eye.

Feathers beating
Droplets forming
Diving, storming
Flying, soaring
Screaming overhead!

Murmuration!

© G. Burns 24-Apr-2012