WEBVTT

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And two more-- one
is an abecedarian,

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so if you ever need a
little nudge to get going,

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I just put the alphabet down
the left margin and got going.

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And this is what came out.

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"In Praise, Ephemera."

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"At dawn, feeding swans
upended by the ice shelf.

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Black beaks champing half thawed
weeds draws to the riverbank.

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Grizzled feathers, echo of
boots over rotting snow.

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Far between, few tundra
swans step out on late ice.

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Glacial melt, snow
melt, hustle downstream.

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Ice dams hold tight jostled
swathes of half lace ice.

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Knife-edged narrow leads open.

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Sliced river swollen.

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Muskrat and beaver gnaw
new shoots of red willow.

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Open winter lodges.

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Fresh water, air.

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Pollen, lavish, carpets
the quick and the dead,

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blessing the revived,
blessing the remade.

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Season of cold broken,
season of ice broken,

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season of tattered
shirt sleeves.

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Bare hands useful again
after burrowing all winter.

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Voles gather first shoots of
new grasses, weave fresh sheaves

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to put by.

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Chew new roots,
shoots, and xylem.

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Drunk on the season's sugars
risen yesterday and today.

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This hour zipping
by, lifting off.

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Wild swan in clear sky."

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