The Swan
Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees - like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
Mary Oliver
The swan drifts on a dark river. In the morning it flies. The poet describes a profound moment of beauty that changes her forever. She asks the existential question ’And have you changed your life?’ She is reclusive American poet; Pulitzer winner, feminist writer Mary Oliver. Her work is considered ecstatic and transformational.
This little swan has come to me from far away... found in a box of discards at an English market. She is slightly damaged but delightful. How could anyone throw her away? She stretches her wings to fly. Her scuffed pewter plumage longs to be silk & linen, a snowbank, a field of white blossoms, pearls. She will get there one day. Hidden pearl beads dangle at the nape of the neck ...a quiet reminder of beauty. A tiny silver heart is stamped with a C for Compatior (Latin for Compassion). A token of love.
Vintage pewter swan pin (Norwich, UK), vintage pewter salt shaker lid (altered), Resin, Vintage faux pearl and diamante closure, Vintage steel chain, attachments hammered from raw steel, found steel ‘c’ heart
