Flight

Helen L. Rummons

Birds seen in water, multiplying white
Of wing and breast!—but whiter is the wing
Above the water; and beyond our sight
White birds, and these themselves the shadowing!
Now I have seen the ultimate goddess-face,
The hush in which all motion is at rest:
Infinite time, infinity of space
Are lost like motes upon her quiet breast.
O found to me at last! Oh, I am blind,
Blinded with vision! Songs unheard before
Shall be my songs. What songs are these? I find
Nothing to say of beauty, nothing more
To say of truth, when shadow-winged birds,
Flying in water, are beyond my words.