White Pelicans and Contemplation

If only one or two had come,

It would have been enough, but

Instead a hundred, perhaps a thousand came, and

After circling, after drawing, outlining upon the cold sky’s air

Great circles, curved and full,

Landed in quiet upon the public lake’s waiting face.

The flying, circling, landing

Of the white pelicans

Guided him toward a recognition

Of the deep beauty,

Of the super-abundance of God’s grace.

--November 29, 2013