In the Beck by Kathleen Raine

There is a fish, that quivers in the pool,
itself a shadow, but its shadow, clear.
Catch it again and again, it still is there.

Against the flowing stream, its life keeps pace
with death – the impulse and the flash of grace
hiding in its stillness, moves to be motionless.

No net will hold it – always it will return
Where the ripples settle, and the sand –
It lives unmoved, equated with the stream,
As flowers are fit for air, man for his dream.

From: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/kathleen_raine/poems/6110

Date: ?

By: Kathleen Raine (1908-2003)