the river is slender and quick
won’t keep from slipping along
its spine of edgeless ridgeless stones
it sighs acquiesce
the stones roll as if in a mouth concurring
a controlled rumble beneath
an unfamiliar lover
on the shoulder of a bend i am lifting my dress
over my ribs my head
barriers rise and fall
below the heft of hemlock
my small suit left like a cracked seed around me
oh to curl entirely inside of it
or to indulge
the perfecting lick of the river
instead of this: me
quivering in the open air
in the anonymous eyes of my company
the river slipping away with its approval