Cranes in the Back-Yard

      Suddenly-- in the middle of what was
      the only green and subtle meadow that I knew,
      a dozen cranes or so with jagged wings
      settled their legs in beads of old snow.
5     A dozen heads or so with accentuated necks,
      are staring me again, down twenty-four years like eyes,
      and I begin to see;-- they are stained so white
      that I think their wingtips cannot be as black as they are.
      Then, and slowly, their wide arms begin to beat
10    until legs like straws let their linkages down
      above the lush wave that presses my throat
      so I cannot think except to gaze at their feet
      not touching the earth the least.

 

From the collection "Youth Youth Youth"

Written by Gregg Glory [Gregg G. Brown]

More information available on gregglory.com.