the river between us

The River Between UsHe sought to touch you and found he could not find you,he sought to understand you but could not hear you." Conrad Aiken

Watershed

yes,I am

writingto you

evennow

eventhough

thisriver

livesbetween

us

Brackish Waters

The riveris insistent

and yetour conversations

are modestare constantly

movingshe always

repeatsherself never

repeats herselfrepeats herself

in the damp bluedusk of rustling

leavesin the sky

circlingwith herons

The letters I write you

are in an amber color

of sap

oozing from ourcarved

initials

laying on top of each

other.

a talisman –

expandingeach

yearthe white sycamore

at the bend of

the river

The River

Down River

at the riversedge

river mudrunning

throughmy fingers

watch it fallback into

the watersmall brown

rivuletsmoving fast

away from medown river

a stagleaps

across

Weave of water

While yousleep

I send yousmall birds

to weavewords

into yourhair

the riverholds me

backinstead she

weaves herself

Did you wonderwhy on waking

the damppillowcase?

Crested

Whenthe river

rises

I sendmy

armadaof paper

boatsto you –

have youlooked

inthe trees

my navybeached

onbranches?

A suddenBreeze

willbring

meto you

Augury

The sunfalls

past leavesonto

words thatfloat in

and outof currents

I tryto read them

as they passbut the ravens

havetheir nests

to build

Waist deep in water

Sheweaves

redthread

intoriver-water

the duskaround her

rests on rivulets,

alights ongold

leafspin castssmall shadows.

acrossbare skin

SheNow sings

rocksa lullaby

rocksthe river

On theshore

a paperboat

on abedside table

the bedthe child

his eyesget

heavy

heavier

Sleep

I follow the floating

faint glow oflamp light in

and out of trees

on the othershore

The greeningriver sings

singsa lullaby

sings meto sleep

Alluvium

the river crownedlast night

drowning ourgarden-

There from envya deep silt

offering fornext spring.

Maybeone

more

spring

To White

thismorning

the lightchanged

arounda small

child’swagon-

aroundthe first

birch leaf tofinally

let go of allthat green-

exhaustedby its

ownexuberance.

Did you notice?

Oxbow

Myconver

sationswith

herare

constantlychanging,

she is always changing her-

self, she isalways

the samealways

changing

Rainfalls from

leaves -

Small circlesquiver

on the waterleaves shake

inthe

reflectionshake

offtheir green

move

to-

wardgold

Babel

sometimesit’s so quiet

that I walkaway

from the riverwalk

through dustycathedrals

of lightto pray

to returnto return always

to her

River Rocks

She is alwaysarriving

always leaving

I am still

hereon the shore

throwing stonesover the river’s

undulatingbody

This morningdid you

hear theirdamp dead

thump

among

the damp fallen

leaves

calling to you?

Chill

there is achill in the air

can you feel it?

I raise mycollar

imagine a longcoat for you

Take eat thisthe body

of myprayers

Singing

it’s beentoo long love

since I lookedforward

to winter

Maybe thatcomes with

reading themigration of

certain birdsor the tracks

of coyotesleft in

the dustunder a full

moon or theshedding skin

of the snakecoiled in

my chest?

Broken China

A winter forthe springthat never came?

I’m singingalonein the kitchen

the river that livesbetween ussings with me

We’ve become closer

she doesn’t knoweverything

Did you findthe bundled

sticks and riverstones I left ?

Breath

The nightsare gettingcolder

have you notice

I amno longerspeaking

Towards the south

Iwalk

thelength

her bodywhere

buckleberries

bend atthe bank

drinklong and

slowI wander

upto the

topof a hill

wherecouriers

have brought

urgenttele-

gramswritten

on redand gold

leaves

“Be of good cheer.”

Memento

for nowI look down

the lengthof the river,

her longbluegreen

bodycurves

northWe have

not spokenfor awhile

I look tothe horizon

lookforward

to winterlike when

we met

Take Leaves

Leavesare falling

freelyspinning

bobbingthe river

takes themcaresses

holdsthem

afloatpast

trout hidingunder the roots

of a black tupelounder

the almanac’storn out

pages

The Effigy

I walk the river

My hairhas grown

longmy beard

a nest forsparrows

I gatherfeathers

fallen frombirds in flight

arrangesticks

and stonesriver mud

and leavesinto an effigy

dress itin my shirt

and pantsput prayers

I have writtenyou

where myheart would

be.

leave it on my

side ofthe river

Standingnaked

I wade intothe river

wash awaymy sins

lay quiet on the shore

dry in the air

standingsmall leaves stick

to my skin

I walkthe river

turn southand walkaway

walk awaysinging

your name

Snowfall

at last snow falling

so quietthe worldis

whisperinglike a motherand father

closing the doorafter a lullaby