All along the esplanade
risen birds salute the dawn
in diverse tongues:
Arise, arise, oh newborn
and almighty Sun!
Beside the sea, a tree
grows out of sand,
its prehensile
hands of leaves
splayed against the sky,
their veins outlined
in x-ray: some glow claret,
others green and young;
some are jaundiced, others
tarnished with pinpoints
and spots of rust.
A lone, high-prowed
white vessel - stately
pelican transposed to boat -
bobs on the ripples
striding across shallow
estuarine mudflats,
unassailable in his aplomb.