Sher Poetry

Voicing and Sharing Poems from a Wide Range of Voices.

“White Pelican” by Sher Schwartz

White Pelican

fifty years of threaded marriage
woven connections broken
her body sickens strands untwine
her spirit though still sings
a clear young soprano her
broken-open milky pool
American pelicans circle
enormous white lusty throated birds
pondering, patient, and sturdy
webbed feet paddle, a surge,
a thrust of snowy teardrops spraying
white wings seen as black underneath
the birds burst up into their heavy glide
and it’s the up-up
we children love
to see her rise

I am grateful to Light Ekphrastic journal for publishing this poem (2023).

Afterward for “White Pelican” by Sher Schwartz

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Sher Schwartz

http://sherpoetry.wordpress.com/

9 responses to ““White Pelican” by Sher Schwartz”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    the first time i read this poem it brought tears to my eyes. so very beautiful and profound metaphor. thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Sher Schwartz Avatar
      Sher Schwartz

      My mom is in her 80’s quite the late beautiful blossom

      Liked by 1 person

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  2. dalechamp Avatar
    dalechamp

    I have seen white pelicans drifting on the Columbia River. My mother too is a white pelican. At 97 she is suffering the loss of her third spouse.

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  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    My mom and I would regularly sit in the tiny doctor’s rooms at Waters Edge. She would always request (sometimes insist) we have a waterside room. We would watch the pelicans together. Your stanza “her broken-open milky pool” guided me to reflect on the slow emptying of her life force and me a witness my mother’s (milk) evaporating.

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    1. Sher Schwartz Avatar
      Sher Schwartz

      Thank you for sharing those memories. It has been interesting to me how many people relate to the white pelican. I just had another friend, and there were two last night who texted and told me -they had particular memories of the white pelican. And another listener shared her brief story of seeing her 97 year old mother as a white pelican too. These birds resonate with us. I shouldn’t be surprised as they are such magnificent beings and of course we notice them–thankfully we notice them.

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  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    A beautiful and intricately constructed poem. My favorite line is “her spirit though still sings.” I also love the description of the pelicans taking off- “a thrust of snowy teardrops spraying.” And the ending is triumphant. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Sher Schwartz Avatar
      Sher Schwartz

      Thank you for your thoughtful comments. It’s wonderful to know what resonates with readers

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  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    The verse—like the pelican—soars! 

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. annedfarley Avatar
    annedfarley

    Beautiful! Doesn’t everyone have a spirit bird?

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