under sky

over water

cannot swim

can walk

sand rushing

slight fear

never feel in the field

this lake:

horizoning arrogantly

that lake:

small enough to cross

porch to train bridge

thru rental yards along main street

across another bridge

every step a referendum 

but have lost the river

down the embankment

have lost hours or days 

moving in a straight line

have begged to stay

have begged to go

have wept and have held weeping

have packed bright boxes, carried them to the car

have driven roads of weak asphalt

along the long lakeshore

horizon a vanishing point 

I aim toward

what aim

what weapon am I

and where is the river? 

when I wake up:

to my right

half wrapped around 

like some past love

weightless 

just too far to see

my griefs:

small and bitter

juneberry 

mulberry 

lemonbalm

I eat what I can find 

turtle on the rock

green water 

go under

light in the trees

gold wash 

lime wash

dipped in light

god is afoot 

a magic 

god is alive 

something living 

desaturated August

up for reconsideration 

tree roots rot 

then fall

flat lands go nowhere

go up & up & barely recede 

cool water go under

the sky heats up the air

the sky the sky in the trees

the sky shifts from foot to foot

with what question?

the yellowing landscape 

asks nothing from me

the windmill over the treeline 

catches something I can’t see

where is the sky? 

just past the trees

where is the water? 

dripping from the ends of my hair

where is the sky? 

across the ocean

where is the water? 

come back up to the sky

where are you walking? 

to the end

the end

wherever it ends