Some descended from the arms
of our chapel cross, while lower
brothers abandoned statues
to bathe and drink at the heart
of our campus. Here, this flock
is no congress, no murder—
too innocent for such names.
Playful as cardinals, they splash
and sing on the lip of a bowl
overflowing. A great gather
of lustrous, fluffing feathers,
others could mistake them for ducks
or sleeker geese throwing water
in joyful, wing-beating triumph.
No longer ominous, they
foreshadow glee and liberty
of a coming summer when
students less uniform arrange
themselves into carefree circles
of chatter and rough-house, unbound
from studies’ dark gravity.
John Davis Jr. is the author of The Places That Hold, Middle Class American Proverb, and three other poetry collections. His work has appeared in Nashville Review, Tampa Review, Salvation South, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA and teaches English in Tampa, Florida.
