SHARK REEF

Morning
water color
mist muddled pond
whip-grasses
dark as pounded

Because I am here
it is often said that I cannot be
somewhere else.
And yet, in the heart of today’s city
I have walked through younger woods –

I claim I’ll go
full of curiosity.
But darling we both know
I always want one more
kiss, another drag

How many summer afternoons found us
at this lakeshore, unable to account

for our fate? Dear whirligig,
you want what is only possible

with stillness. We have yet to learn the names

What have we lost
to know
a brother, a husband
a friend
was needed elsewhere,