Silence

Zambezi River Sunrise 3, Carl Rittenhouse, 2011.

Today the river slinks like oil,

Hardly a current in its mud

As autumn leaves crawl on its face.

I left them in their blinding talk

To meet adopted path and sky,

And bend the grass for light and space.

Here I can hold the air with birds,

Still, solitary in their flight

Without men's calculated race.

Now only sun and water rule

Unchallenged over silent pain:

And the burst cry of a grey swan.

Lotte Kramer