Landscape Dream #7
As a child I was taken in a boat
out onto the river Insects
buzzed
Small fish rose to the surface
then receded
The boat's motor when it cut out
made the other sounds large
We drifted toward an island
separated from the banks by a channel
Drifted in the shade provided
by a canopy of trees
But soon we noticed them
cutting their S's in the brown water
slipping their dry lengths
over green branches Black
and airless they took things from us
took the small breaths
from our tightening chests
Their eyes held no light
Absorbed nothing
But it was more than that
The snakes hanging from the canopy
dropping
into the water around us
twisting like the ink across a text
divided the world in half
