Today’s post is a poem I love, with a misty photo I took in early September, perfect for this time of year when the air is cooling and the birds are starting to dream of warmer skies. The birds are seabirds, not geese, but the shot brought to mind these words.

Atmospheric twilight at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberlandcastle-at-twilight-shrouded-in-mist-with-road-in-foreground-and-birds-flying-over

Something told the wild geese

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go;
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, – ‘snow’.
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, – ‘frost’.

All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly –
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

Rachel Lyman Field

(If any observant bird spotters can identify the seabirds please comment below)

For more wild-inspired poems see or Poetry posts here.