unwatched

To the geese gliding in single file:

A miracle to agree like that, to have such a desire and willingness and instinct to make order, to create union, to format oneself for the purpose of the group, to shape shift, verge, merge, put aside differences, the hunger, the possibility of freedom….I wonder if I could ever really do that.

I'm thinking “Oh, geese, how selfless you are, how wonderful it must be, how powerful the urgency to come together and fly together. How do you not complain? How do you drop the thought of finding your own meal, entertainment, patch of grass? How do you put that aside for the gift of being in traffic, of finding yourself at the end of the line, or worse, somewhere in the middle, having to keep up the pace, work past the fatigue, stay aloft until sunset?

Geese, I envy you. I envy your great flapping of wings, your throaty revelry, your group-ness. Is it as seamless as it looks? Is it that easy to give way to the demands of a life lived together? Are you made less lonely? Do you enjoy the companionship that much? Do you mind not having your own space? Do you wish for a solitary afternoon, feet clacking in the mud, unwatched?