Wisdom knows the winds – knows how
the ancient air-paths
change above oceans
with seasons and with latitude.
Using smell, not eyes, she searches for carrion,
squid surface-floating.
She knows the winds
and how they waltz with waves.
Those vast sky-wings stay outstretched
and could glide forever.
She feels the atmospheric forces –
calculates, adjusting angles,
finds what she needs down
on the water – feeds,
rechecks conditions, catches Time –
veers up again
to rest, to remember,
to contemplate, to keep learning – becoming
more Wisdom every year.
* Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_(albatross)
© E. E. Nobbs
Picture 10044853, Illustration by P. Lackerbauer in Fredol, Monde de la Mer
© Mary Evans Picture Library
E.E. Nobbs lives in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Details about her poetry chapbook, The Invisible Girl (Doire Press, 2013), and links to her online poems, can be found at: https://ellyfromearth.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @ellyfromearth
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