The Lake Swan, the Tom

by John Vieira

The lake swan, the tom,
Swimming love’s vector
Diagonally across, connects
For her, unassumingly
With his neck’s curve,
The mountain and the deep,
Wet black underneath.

How when she comes upon
The same scene later
And, unable to locate
Her eye’s companion,
Cries uncompromisingly
For his clear, white
Figure again to appear.

 

John Vieira works in both conventional lyric and concrete. His book of visual poems, Bird Tattoos, is forthcoming from Underwhich Editions, Toronto. (1985)