Robert Francis



                  His Own


The fish leaps up to take the fly,
The bird dives down to take the fish.
Seldom we see the plunder die
But sometimes hear the sudden splash

And turn in time to catch the flash
Before we see what we have seen.
And who is he who would not wish
His own to be as quick and clean?


Robert Francis, Robert Francis: Collected
Poems, 1936-1976, University of
Massachusetts Press, 1985.