On the Day You Were Born by Rick Swann

          for Sylvie

I would like to say that whales
cavorted in the sea outside
our window, that vast flocks
of birds filled the skies
and that the sunrise
was the most glorious ever.
For me, maybe it was.
Up before light with the news
of your birth, I watched clouds
tinge pink on the edges
as the sun rose behind the ridge.
To the south, beyond
where the ferries cross
mist hovered just above
the water veiling any thought
of land. The mist glowed
with the palest of colors.



Rick Swann is a former elementary school librarian and a member of the Greenwood Poets. His book of linked poems Our School Garden! was awarded the Growing Good Kids Book Award from the American Horticultural Society.