Please, pelican 

Teach me to be graceful in community

and beautiful in solitude

Teach me to glide effortlessly into the wind

to survive through time and toxins

Teach me to embrace my awkwardness

to land softly no matter how clumsy my feet

Teach me to slap mightily at the still and comfortable water

to rise joyous and dripping into the marbled sky

Teach me to have the courage to fold my wings

and plummet to the mirrored sea

Teach me to dive beyond the glimmers in the shallows

to the hidden schools beneath

 May I emerge engorged with the sustenance of those flashing fish in my gullet

 but should I fail, as you so often do

Teach me to dive, dive, dive once more, unashamed

after those illusive herring