Silver streamers dazzling winter
By William Abrahams, James Agee, Kim Addonizio, Donald C. Babcock, Raymond M. Alden, Zoë Akins, Lucile Adler, John Adams, Harold Acton, Doug Abrams & Paul Aaen
I let my body down slow which is
what they say to do, like a whale
with its breathing and floating
in the ocean.
Yesterday
was the half moon
and today was basically
the half moon too.
A glacier’s blue
and water
in the middle of a lake
is blue.
I only had one day
during which I could get myself
out into the middle of it
and I did,
kudos to me.
And to the resilient goose
who never feels cold
And to the talky crow
who has so many friends
And to the inspiring stealthy ducks
who fly together in clips above water.
It’s a silly betrayal
of my own thoughts
to invent or remember,
so maybe I’ll just close
with these tender lines
of Henry David Thoreau:
“An oak tree
in Hubbard’s Passage
stands absolutely
motionless
and dark
against the sky.”
Copyright Credit: Joshua Beckman, “Silver streamers dazzling winter” from The Inside of an Apple. Copyright © 2013 by Joshua Beckman. Reprinted by permission of Wave Books.
Source: The Inside of an Apple (Wave Books, 2013)