Theodore Roethke: "A Light Breather"

The spirit moves,
Yet stays:
Stirs as a blossom stirs,
Still wet from its bud-sheath,
Slowly unfolding,
Turning in the light with its tendrils;
Plays as a minnow plays,
Tethered to a limp weed, swinging,
Tail around, nosing in and out of the current,
Its shadows loose, a watery finger;
Moves, like the snail,
Still inward,
Taking and embracing its surroundings,
Never wishing itself away,
Unafraid of what it is,
A music in a hood,
A small thing,
Singing.




"A Light Breather" by Theodore Roethke, from The Waking: Poems, 1933-1953. © Doubleday, 1953.

Photography credit: detail from "Re-hearted," by Marianne Sormunen (originally color).