To Cygnus

Victor Grauer

A swan in flight has been arrested,
Her bright wings splayed upon the Northern Cross.
Now she, from high, where high on high she’s nested,
Looks down through diamonds on this world of dross. 

From where her stern gaze momentarily lands,

The wind abruptly shifts then calmly stands
And the slant rain freezes all its glitter drops
To cop a sheet of brilliant mirror strands

That fix transfixed above the city tops.
Even the beaded Gypsy stops.

I spot a Mobile station round the bend,
Speed up a bit, then brake to brush the guards.
Skidding skiddy skidmarks where the winding skyway ends,

I scan the world above me with its universe of stars,

To catch the glance of Cygnus as the swirl around her spins,

Telling where the end of time begins.