“Before Dark” by Wendell Berry

 
 
 
 
“Before Dark”
 
 
 
Wendell Berry
 
 
 
 
From the porch at dusk I watched
a kingfisher wild in flight
he could only have made for joy.

He came down the river, splashing
against the water’s dimming face
like a skipped rock, passing

on down out of sight. And still
I could hear the splashes
farther and farther away

as it grew darker. He came back
the same way, dusky as his shadow,
sudden beyond the willows.

The splashes went on out of hearing.
It was dark then. Somewhere
the night had accommodated him

—at the place he was headed for
or where, led by his delight,
he came.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
***
 
 
 

~ by samofthetenthousandthings on July 31, 2020.