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CEDAR BEACH
By Stephen Lewis, Published in Dunes Review, Vol.7, Issue 2, December, 2002
holding its head aloof
from its absurd body
to distance its aristocratic aspirations
from the reality of its waddle,
slipped into the water
like an obese roué
finding his ease
on a plush carriage seat,
or a courtesan of ample gifts
supine on plumped pillows.
Afloat,
it projected grace sufficient
to pull down the stars
and calm the insistent tide.
I,
clearing my eyes of salt water glaze,
focused on this apparition,
misplaced among the gulls
circling the afternoon sky,
and the swimmer making
for a distant buoy,
or the toddler at shore's edge
holding back the surf.
Uncertain of right of way,
and unused to yield
for mere persons,
I yet conceded a degree or two
from the line I had sighted
toward shore,
and stepped aside.
The swan
uncoiled its neck
with deliberate purpose
but no unseemly haste
and held its course
toward a reef
beyond which
it disappeared
without so much
as a backward glance,
as though
I were not worthy
of its notice.