I have staked out
a sliver of an acre
in this king-sized country
where I am held carefully in the dark
like the opening quotes
and the first few words of a song –
through the open window
I can hear the world as it grows lighter,
I hear sandhill cranes trilling to each other
as they take off or land,
briefly
suspended
from the gravity of the earth
until the day they’ll join it
for good.
Halfway North 