Markings 51- Poem of the Day

A Vanishing Speck

Every year a tiny, tiny bird, the blackpoll warbler

migrates across the Atlantic for 3 days without stopping.

If you are reading this poem

at the beginning of winter

the blackpoll warbler

with the mass of less than a cedar HB pencil

and about the same as a dessertspoon of honey

has left the boreal forests of Alaska.

To fly directly over the Atlantic Ocean

without stopping for three days

a distance of 3000 kilometres

to Venezuela.

Now on the world’s endangered species list

there are only ten percent left after 50 years.

If you are reading this poem

at the beginning of winter

the blackpoll warbler that weighs

no more than 12 business cards

has left the boreal forests of Alaska

but cannot now fly further than its fate.

Jeff Guess

©Jeff Guess 2017