Cause and Effect

A bird flaps its wings

In Detroit

And the wind picks up along

The Great Lakes

In Maine

In the woods a deer's ears flap in the wind

It gallops across the border to the snows

Of Canada,

Where it rustles against a bush.

It breaks loose a leaf, that flies in the wind, and lands

In the ocean,

Where it creates a ripple,

That turns into a wave,

To crash into the distant coast of Iceland.

It kicks up grains of sand,

Carried on the wind, through the river,

Across Europe,

Connecting to Russia,

Evaporating into clouds

Which turn into a snowstorm,

Blowing across Siberia,

To the ocean again,

Where it becomes flurries,

Floating across the distance

To Alaska,

Where they stick to the fur of a sled dog,

Racing back

To Canada.

The dog shakes itself in Vancouver,

And the droplets stick to a car,

Which makes the long drive,

South, Southeast,

Back to Detroit,

Where it melts on a quiet street and

Flows into a puddle,

Where that same bird quenches its thirst.