The Bird at Dawn

TWO POEMS

THE BIRD AT DAWN

From the third movement of The Earthquake: an Oratorio

After so dark a vigil, bird at dawn,

It is your throat that parts the shadows, shade by shade,

Lighter and lighter. I am glad that sleep

So long forsook me.

I am glad of how I watched the shape

Of sorrow till she turned her eyes and came to me,

And grasped me in the dark with love and terror

And secret words.

I thought I could not bear those cruel arms

About me, till the fifth hour, when you,

Bird at dawn, ushered in the light, settling

With folded wings.