Bird Bath - Elizabeth Reninger

only this

matters: this ecstatic

baptism

this standing on stick-

thin legs where the singing

creek pools at the lip

of the waterfall

only this

ruby-feathered 

chest diving to meet

its reflection 

this beak piercing

again and again that quivering

surface, these wings half-

unfolding, a ruffle

of joy guiding rivers

of light a tumble 

of droplets dressed

in rainbows along your hidden spine

shattering all

decorum beneath

blue branches in quiet

assent...