Black Sky!

by Sandra K. Gillmore
(Marshallville, GA)

BLACK SKY!

A million birds come by our house to sleep through every night
Then they wake up and fly back out by clusters when its light
First there were a few, then several, a hundred, even more
Then we saw a thousand, then ten thousand from our door!

They whoosh by in the wind like leaves in the Fall
They group so thickly it seems sometimes they form a wall
They dive, they plunge, they flit, they soar
They just keep coming, more and more!

Swirling like tornadoes downward
A thousand fly as one
Forming shapes and ever changing
We hope the show is never done!

“Black Sky!” You’ll often hear us yell
As we run out to greet them
“Holy Moley! Check it out!”
We shout as we look up to meet them!

The birds they play their games, you see
They take turns gathering in each tree
Then in a flash hundreds of thousands flee
Their wings blow boisterous gusts past me

In the summer we can’t hear them
Cause the locusts are so deafening
When a storm is in the air
The speed at which they come seems threatening

They criss cross in the sky producing patterns that they show us
They flitter passing by making their chatter like they know us
They save their poop for other spots and rarely make a mess
They grow in numbers by the day; we’re thrilled they are not less

The neighbors seem oblivious as they walk or ride on past
We point and yell and show them, yet they have their at-hand task
I’ve written to bird watchers and emailed lots of friends
I’ve called organizations that to nature their staff tends

We’ve even had some visitors to come and watch the show
But every night it’s different and the numbers always grow
So we feel very blessed to be the audience of these
Birds of the air so light and fair - a gift inside the breeze

By Sandra K. Gillmore 10-03-08