(Richmond, BC, near Vancouver
International Airport)

Clearly in the YVR flightpath,
walking around the lovely pond,
I cannot miss the great jets
thundering overhead
on their way into the sky.

Why, there goes one now,
winking and gleaming against
the soft blue and puffy white.

The wedge of Canada geese
on the pond seems oblivious,
though when a constellation
of their brethren circles overhead
eyeballing a potential landing spot,
a flurry of feathered activity ensues,

the birds in flight angling in
for a water landing with effusive
squawks and splashes,
far from graceful, but effective,

which is what I imagine
human pilots must think
on occasion when their
touchdowns check in
a bit bumpy.

But there they are, a poem
descending with so much grace,
safe landing on the planet
that all of us in-flight souls
call home.