Another
summer of drought
the Matta, Ni and
Po rivers come and go
signs noted along the highway
At the Rappahannock
I become aware how
devastating the absence
of rain has been
there is little evidence
a river ever ran through here, but
Somewhere
to the southeast the
Rappahannock
gathers its waters once again unto itself
becoming wide and deep –
slows to gain strength, then
quickens to reunite with the Chesapeake
Together they will flow to the sea.
Nights you’d prowl the house in stark contrast to days of nursing/moving/coaxing Did you slip away, certain your baby was asleep – forgetting she was an only child soon to miss the warmth of your body? or was it a need from deep inside to have some part of each day silently to yourself? It…
Door closed Maisie bounded from behind the sofa fresh with the scent of winter we measure the days and hours in Maisie time Locked in the moment he shrugged off a scraped and bloodied face – oblique commentary on a parallel universe Mud and grass stains are part of the game – then bundled to…
Starting at the river Abercorn charts its course through the Historic District Victorian District, into Ardsley Park where 20th century takes hold and on past bungalows of the fifties and sixties Derenne marks the break where past and present meet the world to the right across the intersection – anachronistically into the sky – rises…
Sun’s first rays pick at the blinds teasing them open just a little then its long fingers stretch across the room and tickle my face Outside the world moves in slow motion gulls doze on a diamond sea whose only movement is a ripple as it turns over in its sleep A few birds lazily…
Washington Idaho Montana nothing in every direction. we play with the cats for diversion passing them between our two-car caravan Wyoming breakfast at the Harley and Cowboy truck stop complete with petting zoo buffalo Dakota plains undulate and stretch forever creeping into my consciousness I watch them for a long time – young Indian boys…
‘In the city’ where music danced on the night lights we dashed store to store over snowbanks, between cars through crowds of people across the cobblestone streets trying to avoid puddles of slush – don’t slip! meet. regroup and divide. meet again outside under the Shepard clock closely guarding our Christmas secrets only the constant…