I am a creature of splendor.  Observe my broad, able breast, the swelling seat of my pride.  Behold my dagger-like beak, brilliantly painted with bold, confident strokes of the universe:  sky blue air, dazzling green earth, white water, daring, stunning, orange fire.  Perceive my determined eyes, unflinching, crystal.  See how the sun exalts me, crowns me in golden grandeur.   Regard my regal neck, elegantly poised, serpentining, pure, unaffected, perfect white.   Consider my feathers, intricate, countless, distinctly separate, flawlessly engineered.   Notice the power of my wings, self-restrained, tucked into themselves.  Survey my steady feet, gripping the edge of this rock, molded to its exact shape specifications, steady, unshaken.

Behold me, the pelican, the great paradox of nature.  I am free and I am trapped.  I am commander and subservient.  I am the universe’s, and the universe is mine.  I go as I please, following the wind, traveling the world, independent, unfettered.  Tomorrow I may master the natural world.  I may soar, my mighty wings extended, gliding through the atmosphere, mounting the strongest currents, my feathers ruffled by the wind.  I may dive into the depths of the underwater world and conquer a fish for my nourishment.  Just as likely, tomorrow I myself may be conquered, swallowed whole by some fearsome predator, and if that is so, all is well, for I am the universe’s, and the universe is mine.

Regardless of tomorrow, today I will rest for a while on this borrowed rock, the liquid crystal water crashing gently around me, glistening, bathed in sunlight, basking, reveling.  Today, this is my place in the universe.