ALLEMANDE

for Megan Williston Shay

On the temporal plain

burnt umber bison

spread out walking, a thundercloud,

separate as raindrops

yet melded like molasses

across the vast prairie.

Sparrows, just one of Aphrodite’s

four sacred elements;

waft up in a dance,

vast choreography of community,

and who can tell which bird

is the true leader?

On wing they seamlessly shift

unanimous in a drumbeat undulation,

each individual alone, but joined

perfectly, in the allemande of all.

On the temporal plain each molecule

a brilliant singer,

Each child a swaddled and

secret Buddha, long awaited,

We know the song we search for sleeps

in all our throats.