01 Dec Back 40: Freezeout

How many words do the birds have
For wind? How many categories
Of breezes? It’s all about what you pay attention to
And getting through the day.
If you’re ever at a loss for what to do
Take the night flight to Bozeman
Drive, hike, bike, snowmobile — whatever —
200-miles north and east
To Freezeout Lake and leave
Your tracks in the mud, and with your hands
Deep in your pockets, and your pockets
All that you have, walk into the morning
Where the Cyclops eye of the sun, blood red
Is being freed from the horizon. Never mind
You don’t speak the language, never mind
You wear a parka of down feathers. 10,000 geese
Can’t be wrong. Snow goose, Ross’ goose
Greater and lesser sandhill cranes
See how the land gives them back to the sky
Like tossing confetti.