I HAVE seen things in my life
Which no one else has known,
How to say this now, how
To speak of what is vision
For so much is unheard?
I have looked across a river
And seen them there – those
Who have no human name
Whose language has no word,
Faultless with compassion.
As birds of unblemished wing
Perfect with unearthly tone,
They shoot across a lucid air
Their shining bodies lucent
Propelled by light and shadow:
Their weightless songs
Are speechless, full of love
Floating far above our haste.
Beautiful they are and gracious
Luminous within their skin,
As if no worldly life could be
Possessive of such warm body,
A supernatural being walks
Inside their easy going.
Their transparent sureness is
Vibrant in a fl awless manner,
Generous, gentle, undemanding
Nothing can inhibit them,
In their experience domination
Never can secure a place:
So constantly I must admire
Observing time in how they play.
Kevin McGrath