Terri Glass

Violet Green Swallows
 
Over Mount Burdell,
they flit, soar and dive
through a deep blue sky--
a glimpse of white belly
and dark green back
weaving among buckeye
in blossom and old live oak.
Skimming the sky,
dipping over my head,
may they anoint me
with levity
as I ascend the hill,
so my feet endure
jutting rocks and sudden dips
in the trail.
 
May their spirit fill
the troubled world
with joy--
visible angels not bound
by gravity or darkness.
Arrows of pure
freedom and play,
they dart about
catching insects,
currents of wind,
aerial circus acrobats.
Nimble, swift, I want
that gift to fly
among cumulus clouds,
and the blue
of blue-eyed grass sky.
I want everyone to feel
even for a moment--
the grace
of a violet green swallow.



Terri Glass is poet and writer of the natural world. She is a long-time teacher with California Poets in the Schools. Some of her work has appeared in About Place, Young Raven’s Literary Review, San Diego Poetry Annual, Fourth River, Adventum, and California Quarterly. Terri is the author of three books of poetry, the most recent being a chapbook of haiku, Birds, Bees, Trees, Love, Hee Hee, from Finishing Line Press. terriglass.com.