To all beings, the asymmetric trait
lends character            and beauty. 

How delightful the single, arched eyebrow
of a baby exploring their world
or the rakish cant of a hawk’s tail 
                          as it soars in level flight. 

Under a microscope, the off-center
nucleus of a paramecium
could be said to enchant the most jaded
             observer;

on a grander scale,
the mismatched parabolas
that tattoo either side of a finback whale 
give majesty to its bulk when it lunges through 
plumes of krill 
                                      in the oceans of our planet,
                          with its steadfast spin
             on a tilted axis. 

Who could deny 
the pattern of stripes on a tiger’s flank 
is never the same between left and right?
A key element of its formidable charm
which both mesmerizes and repels
anyone who spies it lying in wait. 

                          Just so, imbalance in nature
                          provides a kind of momentum:

              even when there is no wind,
the leeward slope of a mountain
draws a herd of goats around the peak
toward its calm shelter

and in the valley below, a river’s west bank 
hosts a bountiful thicket of flowering rushes 
while the opposite shore is golden sand
lit by the sun’s descent fading below
             the bent horizon.