it left me then, there on the river, i was an
empty shell, floating
plastic, frozen
in time to the swiftly flowing
surface of things,
cold couldn’t scratch me,
as the sun,
lit a birds wings,
and the wax,
filled in the cracks on the kitchen counter
where you told me to leave you,
again, and again, and again
in the crushing beauty
of that sunrise,
i was alone
though several others
were nearby, the sound
of the deadly waterfall,
was deafening
why go to the river?
when the banks are frozen,
and the geese honk softly
happy to see each other make it
to the morning
when the sun, just barely
warms the mist, and the moon
sits, fat and yellow
above the naked trees?
because
i too am
a leaf
of a vessel
poised above the whirlpool
and on the edge,
i find myself
