The Swan Effect                                                                                                                                          Your slender neck and wings so clean

Graceful movement, so serene,

The purest feathers which you preen

Are what attracts the eye.

 

Curves and power, gliding slow,

Majestic as a river flow

Sleek and gently strong you go

Sliding steady like a sigh.

 

Ivory feathers glistening bright,

Basalt eye that hints of night,

Swimming power and huge in flight,

Along the lake you slide.

 

Beneath the water’s murky shade,

Shrivelled skin and feet of spade,

Pumping legs the space invade,

You pant and weep inside.

 

You never want the world to see

The stress of floating near to me

For grace and beauty are the key

Your every move is muffled

 

The question mark of beak and neck,

Beneath the line disguise a wreck,

Invaders will receive a peck

If feathers are but ruffled.

 

So I will surely give you space

To chase your rivals from this place.

Your moods are hidden from your face,

Your lizard legs and toes.

 

Your beauty shows the world is pure

Mere mortals must remain on shore

Your lifeblood muscles once you tore

Still frantic fever glows.

 

Water on your back in silver beads

You seem contained in all your needs,

Your fretting soul the furnace feeds

Your struggling leans upon.

 

We all can seem serene and calm,

Our feathered shell protects from harm,

Beneath the waves a fire alarm,

But up above a swan.         X