Snow Goose

He was born in the northern wild
One cold June morn on Bylot Isle
Where the mountains look out over Baffin Bay
Towards the end of that July
He learned to stretch his wings and fly
With his parents he would practice every day
But the days grew ever shorter
Til by the middle of September
There was an urgency growing in the flock
Suddenly one morning
A mighty V was forming
Like a bell had sounded from an unseen clock

At 60 miles an hour
At more than 7000 feet
Down the length of Baffin Isle to Hudson Strait
In the excitement and the freedom
He felt a power beyond reason
As they flew 800 miles in a day.
Just East of Baskatong
And just west of Mount Tremblant
They crossed the St. Lawrence Seaway
And then above the Adirondacks
Ever south to the Atlantic
Along the shore down to the Delaware Bay.

All winter long they rested in those mild waters
And feasted in the marshes every day
But by April the heat became oppressive
And just like that they flew home the way they came

It was in his second winter
When all at once he met her
She approached him and they bonded on that day
They flew back up north together
Built their nest beside a river
He was there as she delivered every egg
Three long weeks he stayed and fasted
To protect those eggs from foxes
And then finally their chicks broke free
And like his parents did before him
Kept those precious ones beside him
As they grew into majestic snow geese

As they near the end of their eleventh season
He can sense that they have lived out most their days
They’ll fly home once more – 2500 miles
And in that pristine northern wilderness they’ll stay

He was born in the northern wild
One cold June morn on Bylot Isle
Where the mountains look out over Baffin Bay
In the twilight of his life
He’ll be together with his wife
As they gaze out on the beauty of those waves
Where the mountains look out over Baffin Bay