Swan lessons

Swan lessons


Morning shivers
small child dressed in
Minnie Mouse swimsuit.
Wiggles insulate her
from water's chill.

"I go swimming now."

Her dismissal
tells of future flights
from feather-nested maternity
as carefully woven grasses
unravel and gust away
on time's wind.

And I am left
a crooked branch
waiting for visits
from the weary
flight-feathered.