At sea

A minke whale passes under andrew peacock’s kayak in neko harbour in the antarctic peninsula
From Chemin faisant



At sea

The haze
  has us 
    in a slow, pink
      and grey

confusion; everything
  we know - 
    the horizon,
      for example,

and the distant
      ridge of land - 
         has vanished,
           the boat

   glides without a sound
     over a sea of curled
       and luminous glass,
         there are clouds

in the sky wherever
    that is, and clouds
      in the water, 
         and maybe

we have entered heaven
   already, the happy boat 
     sliding
       like a bee

down the throat of a huge
  damp flower.
    Some birds,
       like streamers of white silk,

approach us, crying.
  Ah, yes,
    how easy,
      how familiar

it seems now,
  that long 
    lovely thrusting up and down
      of wings.

Mary Oliver