Sandhill cranes prance the fields
of the Necedah Wildlife Refuge.
They relentlessly clear their throats.
Is this an attempt to find a softer song
to replace the rough ratcheting
that is their call—an attempt to fine-tune
the echo chambers in long necks
to find a kinder music for sky travel.
It is fall of 2016
politics of the season reverberates
with ratcheting calls.
The election draws near
there is no gentle music
air waves guzzle with discordant
degrading language.
Sandhill cranes whisk away,
we rush out to cast an early ballot.
Janet Leahy‘s poems have been published in print and online journals. Most recently her poems have won second place and honorable mention in the 2016 People and Ideas Poetry Contest. She has published two collections of poetry, The Storm, Poems of War, Iraq, and Not My Mother’s Classroom.