Bird Hide Langbaan
this hide with its bench
and window ledge
where you can kneel,
rest your elbows
and cup your hands
to the twilight,
is a communion rail
in this cathedral of lagoon and sea.
the setting sun is choir master
to the fluttering of a thousand wings.
a flamingo in priest’s robes
blesses the wine water
and the bread mulch in the reeds.
I ingest in silence
the bird’s cry and the sea roar
and feed the salt marsh on my tongue.
11 August 2002