Flags fly south,

But not like geese,

Only when the cold north wind doth blow.

Geese fly south to someplace warm,

Like Mexico.

But flags stay tied,

Identified with their flag pole.

Flags aren’t natural,

And they wear out by habitual flapping.

While geese flap, too,

But they renew by getting somewhere 

Together in a vee.

A flag must be burned if it gets worn enough,

Or if it touches the ground.

Geese touch down frequently.

They build their nests upon the ground,

Lay their eggs on it.

Flags identify with their pole,

And many of us fractured souls

Identify with something as fragmentary 

As all of that.

Geese identify with the entire natural whole of the cosmos.

That’s why things roll off their backs so easily.

Maybe if we could be more like a goose,

We, too, could wake up in a wonderful fresh new world every day,

And live a life unidentified by mere attachments to

Made up things like flagpoles.

-jenn