PoetryMine Poetry Mine

After winter’s vacation, in Argentina,
they return each year as if by subpoena.
How do they do it, for ages it’s been asked,
how do these little birds perform such a task?

But then these are not just any birds,
but the famous swallows of which you’ve heard.
As sure as the notes of an accomplished soprano,
they find their way back to San Juan Capistrano.

Leaving South America as if by a clock,
flying to California before they dock,
right on schedule on “St. Joseph’s Day”,
at San Juan’s mission Spring and Summer to stay.

The swallow’s flight takes some 7,000 miles,
and to dwell on that may bring some denials.
To catch air currents with the necessary flow,
altitudes are adjusted often to the most apropos.

Arrival at the old mission is quite an occasion,
as worldwide visitors celebrate the invasion.
Bells of the old church ring loudly for hours,
and a huge fiesta is replete with Spring flowers.

The swallows set about to build mud nests,
knowing safety is assured as honored guests.
They seem to sense San Juan’s regulation,
to harm the swallows means a jail destination.

Behind the sheltered walls of the old mission,
spending Spring and Summer as if by cognition,
the swallows realize when it’s time to leave,
making the term “bird brain” hard to believe.

On the “Day of San Juan”, October twenty-three,
the birds circle the old mission, preparing to flee.
With “Thank you” squawks echoing o’er the land below,
they turn for Argentina, it’s time for their Winter show.

It’s true those in San Juan regret seeing them depart,
but next March 19 they’ll fly back into their heart.
How do they do it, for centuries it’s been asked,
how do little birds perform such a task?