[Wilt thou play with him as with a bird]
For I have loved the blade with all my crippled
with all my awkward soul loved it for the shine
sheen for the ease and grace of doing what it was
made to do for I have loved the stubborn womb
its beloved intent have loved the hope and then
learned to love the lack for I have loved the water
the way it comes to me comes for me in all its
liquid mystery for I have loved what the water
loves its myriad vessels sky basin runnel channel
and vein for all it claims and contains for I have
loved its muscular flex its rise coil and fall so like
Leviathan's mighty desperate heart for I have loved
Leviathan for being only for being exactly
what god hated and what he made for being
water's own knife this wild unholy blade
Copyright Credit: Leslie Harrison, "[Wilt thou play with him as with a bird]" from The Book of Endings. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Harrison. Reprinted by permission of University of Akron Press.
Source: The Book of Endings (University of Akron Press, 2017)