The brackish roots of river pine   Anchored in my curving spine   Bend to the whims of wind's design   And I lay down at your side      Above the brine of reds in clay   A swollen angel oaks bouquet   In the red-winged blackbird's eyes of grey   A saltwater tear resides      But the sand and the earthen parapet   Silts into this rivulet   The bluffs and the banks will soon forget   A single tear was cried      And in this spawning ground it blooms   The nectar and the petal plumes   A purple swallow now exhumed   From the river that has died      Palmately spread delphinium   Bachelor-buttoned malva comes   To be your lilied bride      The crimson of rinoculous   Gardenia and dianthus   The bloodless ivory water-lotus   Sweetly opens wide      But even the most fondly named   Rooted and green leaves framed   Surely must come to be reclaimed   Beyond the great divide      Without a voice left to sing   With waterlogged and heavy wing   With peaceful eyes unsuffering   A pigeon floats in the tide