Gleanings: II

worn down and drowned
a nub of rough stone
entering the undertow
sinking down to be claimed
by the riverbed

submerged

cold water slips over the surface
of a small stone heart

what is the language of illness? of immersion in the undercurrent?

sounding out the depths of
the dim life down there
rolling with inner tides that riffle the mud
tugging at dreams that attempt to surface
dissolving what is known in the murk
softening in silt
gentling stone to quiet
darkness and deepening
inhabiting the liquid of malleability

there is no fixed point, only flow
even for stone
transformations in a ceaseless stream
a confluence of cool moving waters
soothing, wearing smooth

until the nub is grasped, fluent in the hand

(September 2023)