White as sunwashed breaker
and careless of the rain the gray
heavy sky pressing the morning
birds to stillness
careless of the muck
of the marsh rainpond
stepping slow
delicate deliberate and watching
O long white body drawn up
in neck excruciating in
length in fineness
in grace
and head blackeyed
that transforms the riverine
run of neck into gold
a spear of sun poised —
Everywhere gray and rain
and gray —
but no — because following
the flight of your striking beak
the reeds I see bloom dense
brown gold light
greens of coming life
life so long waiting
now under the gray
the rain
come to blossom out of you
your whiteness
still and solid yet tumbling
breaking —
O beauty when you rise
into it the dull gray the wet
O white curved wings slow
indifferent it seems and yet
for all that
you catch me
carry me
grant me
careless
one rising breath
deliverance
on your featherborne
upsurge of grace.
Beyond Breakers 