Cuttyhunk, Late Afternoon
Cuttyhunk, Late Afternoon
Small white terns are swarming in a dense cloud
that convulses through new forms as it arcs
and ascends, then veers and grazes the sea.
A thin violet slash is writhing with fish
that are feeding on the shelf right offshore;
the cloud rains down hard again and again.
In the teeming frenzy over the chop,
flecks of silver gleam, unfathomably,
but these fish do not abandon their space.
After eighteen minutes, violet succumbs
to rich blue. Abruptly, hundreds of birds
in formation race one island away.