“The Fifth Day”

The birds all fly their pelicanic flights,
Prepared to pierce their hearts to feed their young.
The phoenix on its pyre-like nest alights
And burns, the song that never goes unsung.
You made the birds to fill the ancient air,
The aves sing Ave to the morning sun.
But in the deeps, leviathin has his lair,
And swam before on land a man could run.
The spirits of the air and seas receive
These gifts from you on their creation day
To care for them and guide us to believe
That you made the world in which we live and play.
For still the world was not yet wholly filled.
It waited yet for creatures with free will.

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The featured image is a depiction of the fifth day of creation from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.