flat water soothsaying
nearly still silent
opaque navy water changes,
goes sea glass green
suddenly see-through,
shapes flicker below:
fish rock reef past portent future,
the surface flattened to
one great divining well
a wide scrying glass
but wind and wave muffle, muddy
each deep message
that may be bound to me,
formed by my mind or other
I look, though not deliberately,
satisfied with shadow and suggestion
not needing to know what’s next
not wishing to learn the worst
language loom
alone together so long
we’ve nearly forgotten
how others sound
how to weave an exchange
with another willing soul
until the tones hold more than
simple senseless waves
slowly we remember
to listen and ask until
there’s a tough cupped palm heart
sturdy enough to hold tears
threaded together
one under-over-under dip
of our verbal dance at a time
granite for gold
the church plaza:
a square of stone squares
not belonging to
this bit of earth
waste rock quarried in China
fit only for ballast
to center a ship’s
weight in water
to protect the porcelain
and airy silks above
when the ships docked in Manila
men cast the cut blocks into the shallows
their heft no longer needed
displaced by the morbid weight,
the irredeemable burden of
bar upon bar, yes,
tons, a hold’s worth,
an obscene mass
of silver and gold
stripped from the soil and peoples
of the now naked New World
ceding control
illness imposes humility
the mortification of being reduced to
one’s bodily functions
malfunctioning
in public
unconcerned with politeness
the body has its way with one
does all manner of offensive things
and past the point of social graces
we surrender without shame
relieved by mere survival
