The Body Speaks

the body speaks
this ripeness

the faltering
the stripping

some relentlessness
for me it is in flames

always on fire
which means always
ashes and charcoal

the flickering
the volcanic eruption
whatever

whatsoever
these burnings up
and out and away

used to delight in the cold
head out in the Great Lake
worst with absolute delight

drawn irresistibly outward
into it

i will learn to like the cold
again

that sweetness
of task

such questions otherwise
i cannot ask

of the tides
tolling all night

as i dream along alone
and not so

my favorite songbird
dwelled near today

Townsend's warbler

i can whistle her
six-note melancholia

i'd say just about the sweetest
song on Earth

i know



     October 2004