Katharyn Howd Machen

 

Black Swans: A Poem for Voices


We are the black swans,

the women who swim.

Who fly at night.

Who are the night.

Our golden feet touch

quiet water, skim

shining surface, plunge deep

to make currents in dark weeds.

We come and go.

We know each other's dreams;

we dream each other.

Dream the flight

past ragged moon,

past singing stars,

and it comes true.

We are the wings.

We reach for wind

and make it ours;

we become the wind.

Our words are swan words,

black and full.

We go distances,

return, endure.

©1983, Katharyn Howd Machan. Published in Writing Home, Gehry Press.


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