The brackish roots of river pine
Anchored in my curving spine
Bend to the whims of wind's design
And I lay down at your side
Above the brine of reds in clay
A swollen angel oaks bouquet
In the red-winged blackbird's eyes of grey
A saltwater tear resides
But the sand and the earthen parapet
Silts into this rivulet
The bluffs and the banks will soon forget
A single tear was cried
And in this spawning ground it blooms
The nectar and the petal plumes
A purple swallow now exhumed
From the river that has died
Palmately spread delphinium
Bachelor-buttoned malva comes
To be your lilied bride
The crimson of rinoculous
Gardenia and dianthus
The bloodless ivory water-lotus
Sweetly opens wide
But even the most fondly named
Rooted and green leaves framed
Surely must come to be reclaimed
Beyond the great divide
Without a voice left to sing
With waterlogged and heavy wing
With peaceful eyes unsuffering
A pigeon floats in the tide