Icarian

Amy McCann

Gulls puncture the blue between

kites: translucent（透明的）, cross-boned,

cellophane（玻璃纸） animals leashed

to each child's wrist.

Some unusual flyers: octopus（章鱼）,

brontosaur（雷龙）. A man taking Polaroids

alternates between his stumbling

toddler and a sea star

suckling basalt（玄武岩）. The water endless

tics, trinkets of light. I soothe（安慰，缓和） my palm

over sand, trying to erase

any evidence of our being

terrestrial. Matted feathers

barb the surface, nib my palm.

O cosseter, O caravel! I am fast

bound for far shores, already failing

to find the desired—anise,

apricots impossible in this soil.

As always, I'll spend tonight chastely

kissing our limitations, bunked

beside you, a board braced between

our radiant（光芒四射的） groins, my affection

folding into itself, into something

engineered to be unlikely

yet airborne—diamonds of tissue,

tape, and string, delicate

harness for the invisible,

variable currents. Beautiful

impediment. Everything given,

one way or another, a working wing.