We are cold, chattering

       with light, on the cusp of

  some bright shore

winter waterbirds shrieking                    

            a welcome: our hearts—

math to math— willing,

            but not prepared.
 
            

__

After taking a Marine Birds & Mammals class at university, I began comparing everyone in my life to birds: the regal, somber pelican; the delicate, melodramatic crane; and the ubiquitous cormorant, which looked elegant stretched out and flying, but odd up close.