Rain Towards Morning

The great light cage has broken up in the air,
freeing, I think, about a million birds
whose wild ascending shadows will not be back,
and all the wires come falling down.
No cage no frightening birds; the rain
is brightening now. The face is pale
that tried there puzzle of their prison
and solved is with an unexpected kiss,
who freckled unsuspected hands alit.

--Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner.