Down to the River

Maery Rose

Paper, emails, messages, class assignments
They arrive faster than a roadrunner cartoon
Anvils rain from the sky
Duck! Hide under the desk!
“Take me down to the river”
She whispers
Where tufts of white
Glide between stone blue ice
Two, then four, then more
Silent as statues
Three observers
One human, two not
Watch from the shore
A ballet performance
Spreads before them
A stretch and a bend
Soft honks
Punctuate the quiet
Cold colorless space
Demands roll like sticks
Against skin
Until snapped
A rim shot of feathers
Forces them quiet and dim

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7 Comments

  1. Is it OK for me to say that I’m envious of you? To my knowledge, I’ve never seen a swan in real life…much less four at a time!

    I enjoyed this post.

  2. Sue, I do feel pretty lucky and privileged every time I see a swan. On this day, they just kept gathering and building into a full flock. It was very cool!

  4. Such beautiful images of these graceful birds. Back in Germany we had so many swans on our river, but here – nothing. I miss them, but then we have other birds here that also thrill me to no end.

  6. What beautiful..beautiful winter swans!!! There’s something – I’ve always thought – even more elegant about them in the cold winter.

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