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