Light on Water

It hits the water differently

than the way it flickers

and tattoos through the trees;

not really hitting it, more like dancing

or whispering across the surface,

scattered sunbeams resting in golden

dapples and pools, a mosaic

of green, blue, and gold

stippled here and there over the deep,

casting shadows in the shallows.

The water reflects the light

back to the sky, mirroring it,

creating a vision of symmetry

so perfect from a distance

that the ignorant earth

can’t enter the conversation

between water and sky

until a single bird

throws shadows between them,

breaking the illusion,

The darkness beneath it

skidding across the luminous water.