One Wandering Albatross
Watching, as we cross the Drake
Passage, one Wandering albatross
going with the wind, using it to her
advantage, I catch myself wishing
I could be so wise. I could watch her
forever as she maneuvers and flexes
her primaries with every gust. She must
possess the sea wind to power her flight,
and so will not go all the way with me
to the peninsula, where pack ice
dampens the wind. Somehow
she realizes wingbeats are not needed
if one knows how and when
to dip and then rise at right angles
to the wind’s direction, thus capturing
its energy. Watching the largest
of all seabirds as she floats
elegantly on the wind as if
she owns it, I envy of her skill
and global citizenship— how she
wanders the planet without luggage
or plane/hotel reservations,
crossing invisible boundaries
humans have erected.
Watching her coasting so
near our ship, I fear
for her safety—so many die
in fishing nets, and competition
for food is fierce as squid boats
scour the Southern Ocean.
Watching her—her flight sweet
as a lullaby, I hold on tight
for the glide. For a moment,
I forget every threat, all
the day’s bad news, all
that we might lose.
And I wish with all my heart
that I could shapeshift and lift
my wings likewise to go
with her and the wind.
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Diana Woodcock has authored seven poetry collections, most recently Reverent Flora ~ The Arabian Desert’s Botanical Bounty (Shanti Arts, 2025), Heaven Underfoot (2022 Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award), Holy Sparks (2020 Paraclete Press Poetry Award finalist), and Facing Aridity (2020 Prism Prize for Climate Literature finalist). A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, she received the 2011 Vernice Quebodeaux Pathways Poetry Prize for Women for her debut collection, Swaying on the Elephant’s Shoulders. Currently teaching at VCUarts Qatar, she holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, where she researched poetry’s role in the search for an environmental ethic.
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Stone Poetry Quarterly 