Hunting the Phoenix 

 

Leaf through discolored manuscripts,

make sure no words

lie thirsting, bleeding

waiting for rescue.  No:

old loves half-

articulated, moments forced

out of the stream of perception

to play 'statue',

and never released-

they had no blood to shed.

you must seek

the ashy nest itself

if you hope to find

charred feather, smoldering flight bones,

and a twist of singing flame

rekindling.

 

~ Denise Levertov,

Breathing the Water 1987