SWANS

Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat,

All day long they eat

Heads down in the mud

Their graceful necks curved down

Interrupted only by intruders

Crowding into their space.

At those times, heads held high

They listen and look and ready themselves to flee

But evening comes and one by one at first

And then in groups

They spread their wings and lift

Their magnificent, snow white bodies aloft

To seek the safety of water.

I love to watch, below me on the flats,

These birds so regal, so dazzlingly white

Take advantage of the abundance of this place

In preparation for their journey

Thousands of miles long.

They know the time is right for gorging

They follow winds and inner calls to do

Exactly things that nature has instilled

Within their hearts.

What is it that attracts me to these birds?

Watching for hours for a glimpse of that first flight?

I watch all day and am rewarded when they fly away

And then I mourn their departure,

I know they do what they perceive is right, at the proper time.

The lessons that they teach are given so unselfishly

They teach me just by doing exactly

What they were born to do.

ANOTHER HAIKU

Time keeps moving on.

I fill my life with doing.

When will I just be?