Martin Robertson

Now and Then

Black

Under the light fresh day

my spirit moves like a black beetle.  No,

the beetle is black by nature, and no doubt

enjoys life much of the time in its own way.

My spirit moves, as over meaningless pebbles

(which are not air, which are not sea)

a gull jerks its oil-bound strength about,

that way, this way, no way out of its trouble.