And the river drips over the dam.

Toes tunnel in the fetid muck flats and the dress is drowning.

Curled edges rusting in the creeping water.

Warm whiskey from the silver tongued flask, tucked in his sock.

Veil spreads like a net over the river, glistening and oily,
catching young green hairs.

The leaves’ sudden slippage.
A glimpse of wing. Of angled beak.

A hornets’ hive hangs from the bough, curved low.

Overhead, the honey drone.

*

Cherish the flesh.

How it changes, pearls and deepens, bleeds and heals.
And fades.

Glass-eyed alewife. Marble crone. Mosaic of bone.
Follicles sprouting dry-welled quills. Drought by dust-build.

The thinnest, flattest stone in his fist. Rising sudden as a wave.
Nearly letting himself go.

Ripple effect. Rip tide. This area is patrolled.

Skipped: splash and ring.

River’s bubble and fizz.

Swallow them whole.

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