And two more-- one is an abecedarian,
so if you ever need a little nudge to get going,
I just put the alphabet down the left margin and got going.
And this is what came out.
"In Praise, Ephemera."
"At dawn, feeding swans upended by the ice shelf.
Black beaks champing half thawed weeds draws to the riverbank.
Grizzled feathers, echo of boots over rotting snow.
Far between, few tundra swans step out on late ice.
Glacial melt, snow melt, hustle downstream.
Ice dams hold tight jostled swathes of half lace ice.
Knife-edged narrow leads open.
Sliced river swollen.
Muskrat and beaver gnaw new shoots of red willow.
Open winter lodges.
Fresh water, air.
Pollen, lavish, carpets the quick and the dead,
blessing the revived, blessing the remade.
Season of cold broken, season of ice broken,
season of tattered shirt sleeves.
Bare hands useful again after burrowing all winter.
Voles gather first shoots of new grasses, weave fresh sheaves
to put by.
Chew new roots, shoots, and xylem.
Drunk on the season's sugars risen yesterday and today.
This hour zipping by, lifting off.
Wild swan in clear sky."