with the fluent flock

isn’t just our wonder at their intimacy in flight

but recognition?

as you turn toward the distant light

we all turn with you

ever so slightly

when you bow toward the earth

and clench your heart in grief

we all bow with you

holding tight to each other

until the clot releases

exhaling

slowly,

one

by

one

slipping low along the horizon

rising softly

into one weightless cloud of possibility

before dissolving

into the hazy,

boundless

blue

—

Dusk. Salton Sea California. 2026.02.06

33°20’19.5”N 115°40’20.0”W

Words & video by Sam Sokyo

Murmuration by Western Sandpipers

✻

cloudsandwater.substack.com/p/murmuration