Migrating

"Migrating

Seeking the pumping station

we missed our road

and found ourselves in a citrus grove

lush grapefruit and clementine trees

weighed down by heavy fruit

ripe for harvest

And then we noticed the birds.

Wave upon wave of migrating birds

flying south in arrow-shaped formations

thousands upon thousands

and still they kept coming

flying overhead

following the lead bird

all moving steadily

down a passage in the sky

heeding the weather’s warning

for tomorrow it will rain

and rain is a hazard for birds

or so my son tells me

and it makes sense

for it clogs their feathers

and weighs down their wings,

flying to sunshine and safety

ahead of the storm.

And so we witnessed

the orderly migration

of hundreds of thousands,

there’s strength in numbers,

and we marvelled.

Jews do not migrate like birds,

we do not heed the weather’s warning,

we do not fly in freedom to safety;

weighed down by possessions and wishful thinking

we let the appointed time pass by

millions of us,

there’s weakness in numbers,

and the storm drives us

to Treblinka."