1
First thing: Chicago,
two mallard ducks
two houses down
roost on a chimney
to keep warm,
surprised by the sudden
turn to cold everyone
expects in March after
a taste of May
they came
to take for granted
after three days running.
Now they make themselves
big, waiting winter
out again.
2
Then, I walk the river
in Rock Island hoping
to see eagles, but I see
nothing where they are not
now but some dark wading bird watching.
Walking on the metal footbridge
over the river, Zhuangzi comes to mind.
I try to walk without putting my foot down,
leave no footprints while
joggers make themselves
big with echoes
after they are long gone nowhere
to be seen.
I stop, look
up the river
to where it begins.
though the beginning
is as it always is
out of sight,
and there are three
dark wading birds on
long thin legs watching, as am I.
