Water

i

Water is an inside out,
a place and a nothingness,
it lives in the deep,
hides itself from everyone.

ii

Water exposes itself,
lays everything bare.

iii

I was of water
and I was empty.

iv

Water was my teacher
but it taught me nothing.

v

The day was snow
and later hail,
water was a clenched fist
hitting a bucket.

vi

Water walked on stork legs
and sang in the valleys.

vii

Water entered my dreams,
it watched me sleeping.

viii

Water held a knife
to the throat of the village.

ix

Water carried me
and broke me on the rocks.
x

Water was a mirror,
but my breath could not fog it.

xi

Water was calypso
and the day was an orange.

xii

Water ate the city.

(from Bird Sisters)