Gary LeBel

Bluer

Gliding by me one after another, each alighting on a separate branch
       with a burst of brilliance,

               quick little hearts
                    driving sleek little engines
of infinite grace:

              Bluebirds,
five, six . . . seven,

              bluer than the noon skies of Elysium,
              bluer than the hearts of ice sawyers once cut out of Merrymeeting Bay,

              bluer than the Blessed Isles in the morning distance,
              bluer than the dress catching Poussin’s eye on a side street in Rome,

              bluer than the domes of Thira in the late afternoon,
              bluer than Helen of Sparta’s legendary eyes,

              as blue as the long, diaphanous curtains astir in the House of Ananke
              or as blue as Lord Krishna’s smile as he sways to Mirabai’s praises,

but more simply of earth,
              of the here and now,
                     rather than anyone’s heaven,

            a flash of plumage
 in the astonished air,
           Bluebirds, five, six ... seven ...

---

About the Author

Gary LeBel is an artist-poet living in the greater Atlanta area whose poems have appeared in journals throughout the USA, the UK, Japan, and India. He believes that art, or anything else worth doing, is a life-long pilgrimage. 

---