If you’ve ever seen swans fuck,
you’d know it’s

a folded napkin in a dither,
while a second lays flat, soiled,
praying for dinner to end.

The male tops the female
in a freshwater body.
She must float them both.

She is submerged, beak beneath
the ripples, lost to the jaw
around her noose-length neck.

The deed lasts ten seconds.

After, he glides to the edge of the
pond, distancing himself from her,
while she honks, reaching back,
trying also to rid herself of him.

Zeus appeared to Leda
as a swan, then raped her.

 

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