Ghost Birds

As one, they settle on the water
making no ripples, no sounds
no splashes
effortlessly, they stop hurtling from the sky
and, asmost instantaneously, are afloat on the green-gray harbor.
Their heads turn in unison, followed by their bodies.
Their feathers ruffle simultaneously
and they blink like a single creature
with six dozen eyes.
Their red gazes glide over their surroundings
in a way that makes you think they're always looking at you
like some optical illusion on a portrait
and when you've seemingly caught their focus just long enough that you think they're going to talk to you at any moment
in a single nebulous voice that you can hear saying, "Hello," and you know they'd be talking to you
they take flight
Making no ripples, no sounds
no splashes.
And, as one, they vanish in the sky
without a trace that they were there at all
and even you have to wonder.