slow onset of stigmata

names she thought

are slipping

            from things

      the hour does not budge

seconds sink   

                                     ———

 if I say: you glow in the halo of sunlight

            I mean: you cast a shadow

                                     ———

       she thinks I want to stand on the edge

      (by edge she means surface)

                        I want to look over the edge

      (by edge she means where the depths begin

                                                                        to end)

wet sand sifts to heels

            deep steps

                        fill with water             erode

                                     ———

 you may see me in a dream

that means horizons run between us

branches’ shadows,

at certain hours, are glyphs

of an alphabet, improperly written.

from the canopies

come languages we don’t

understand: Pigeon, Esperanto,

FORTRAN, Crow.

             ———

       mineral spirits haunt the riverbank                        

there are two types of swimmers,

                         she’ll think,

                                                            one swims for the shore

 ———

        over my shoulder.

see what I see:

you glow in a halo of sunlight

we are surrounded by the ghosts of birds

            ghosts of birds surround us 

Originally published in Copper Nickel, Issue 13 — Winter 2010