Birds of Paradise

Children in their see-through souls who whirl
Across the worlds of the beach,
Ocean spilling past each girl
In its infinite unbridled reach,

Veiled against the setting past,
Full of future and the wind,
The horizon with its bathers massed,
Earth and heavens newly twinned,

The glittering constellation’s rim
Starred with evening’s invitees
At the sky’s inseparable brim
Married to chaotic seas

As the suns of childhood dip
And, years later, reunite,
Gown and flowers in the grip
That weddings and their waves ignite,

Joined by sunset’s dazzling fuse
Which the universe with matches woos.

July 23rd, 2023