wing
the wing of the sea is the wave;
the wave of the sky is the rain;
the salt of the rain falls as hail;
and the hail of hate rains in shots;
the shot of the soul is the bell;
bell without time is the ballad;
ballad that craves no beloved:
the love that names not its ballad.
a bridle-less horse is this life;
the life of the sea is the wave;
the wave of the bird is the wing;
and the wing of hatred is war;
the war of the wind is the storm;
storm of the soul, the beloved;
beloved of all, the poet;
poet of the sea, mariner;
sea of the poem, the future.
Copyright Credit: Raquel Salas Rivera, "wing " from before island is volcano . Copyright © 2022 by Raquel Salas Rivera. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts.