under the riverbed
the moon scatters silver
you carefully gather

whatever you can hold blue
shadows hang heavy
as your waterlogged pants
you still scoop, smiling

full pieces of our dreams
lodged between your fingers
water streams down your face
both sweat and tears ever sweet

i ready the basket
poised like a midnight crane
barely stirring in wane

several moments of pause,
and you look for me and
gaze with bottomless eyes
searching, for me asking
any reason, any sense, why
why won't I swim in the moonlight?