Under Cover

When the mist curls in runes
from the lake's flat page

or a heron's great flight
edits the early sky

chapters can be read
across the years of eyes and hands.

On the face of it, histories resolve
to beauty or regret, depending on who tells.

Look past the convocation
of consonants and vowels

to the silvered sides of birch leaves
or light on deep water.

Below the surface, clouds of fish.
Above, the measured cadence of wings.