The swans of Galway, alabaster white,

where stony river joins with Galway Bay,

divide the water silently at night

performing in a starlit half-ballet.

I like to walk the city by streetlight

and stop to think above the Claddaugh Quay

where cobbled-quiet and their muted sight

can wonder-stop my thoughts about the day:

Arrayed in pristine white, the dancers glide,

glissade beneath the bridge with moonlit wings;

demure, their heads dip softly left and right

as if they hear some music they provide.

But, when the morning heralds start to sing

I leave my swans and Galway for the night.

—

Kate McNew is a bird-loving, boot-wearing, coffee-craving girl who makes a living as a high school English teacher.  She will graduate from JHU with a Masters in Writing in Poetry this December and hopes to one day make a living writing YA and children’s books.