RABBIT, BIRD;
DEER, WORM

1. The white rabbit chases the swan.
A bird is a bird is a worm,
Upon the firmament of the kingdom of heaven.

The weakest birds do not sing;
No, they do not know how to carry on
Alone.
If you listen, you can hear them m—

“Seven, seven,” the rabbit says.
“I have seen Seven, and Heaven, and More.
I was the last of us, but I know what the
Divine have in store.”

And he waited for me to ask.
He waited for me to ask.
“Can you show me?”

2. The swan knows how to navigate
A body of water, but is awkward on land.
The swan thinks of Fell (who had fallen,
understand, at the rabbit’s hand, and

The pearl that held all the wonder of the world
that was the SWAN OF WHITE FLOWER’s right,
was lost to them both that killing night,

and Gods Know,
Gods Know the Curse of the Death of a Feline.)

Nine lives. Nine lives.
To kill all nine
Is to kill something sublime.

The swan thinks of Fell, who the rabbit
saw last, and says, “Do you have the
pearl?”

3. To a swan, any gazing-rock is pretty as pearl,
and the rabbit knew how to bide time,
to turn raw stone to gem, polished to shine.

The rabbit showed him.
“Do you want to see The Kingdom of God?
You can if you believe.”

“Why should I believe?” the swan asked.

“Because you are special, see? Quiet bird,
who does not sing like the swallow or the shrike,
who sees me, the IMMORTAL, and delights
(when he should run).”

“Is it fun, rabbit?
To see the SUN of
HEAVEN and EARTH,
Of SEVEN and MURK?”

“I’ll show you things the fen will never bring you,
I’ll show you me,” the rabbit said. “But of course,
You can always leave…”

I know now the game he was playing. I know now
That there was no chance I could win then.

I, the swan, said, “I want to see.”

“And you won’t tell anybody? It’ll be our little secret?
The gods might punish me, you know,
If they knew what I knew,
And they knew I told you…”

“I won’t tell.”

“That’s a good bird,” the rabbit murmured, too low to hear.

I fell for it. I got near.
I didn’t even know enough to fear.

4. I do not want to speak of what happened, then.
Have you heard a swan sing?
Do you know when?

5. A swan sings when it dies.
And again when it resurrects into divine.