The Swan - Mary Oliver

[Larry Robinson]

The Swan
 
Across the wide waters
         something comes
                  floating--a slim
                           and delicate
 
ship, filled
         with white flowers--
                  and it moves
                           on its miraculous muscles
 
as though time didn’t exist,
         as though bringing such gifts
                  to the dry shore
                           was a happiness
 
almost beyond bearing.
         And now it turns its dark eyes,
                  it rearranges
                                    the clouds of its wings,
        
it trails
         and elaborate webbed foot,
                  the color of charcoal.
                           Soon it will be here.
 
Oh, what shall I do
         when that poppy-colored beak
                  rests in my hand?
                           Said Mrs. Blake of the poet:
 
I miss my husband’s company--
         he is so often
                  in paradise.
                           Of course!  the path to heaven
 
doesn’t lie down in flat miles.
         It’s in the imagination
                  with which you perceive
                           this world,
 
and the gestures
         with which you honor it.
                  Oh, what will I do, what will I say, when those
                                    white wings
                           touch the shore?
 
 
                                    -Mary Oliver