The canoe kept us
apart
each on our own
hard metal bench,
closer to each other
than we had been
in months.

We rode
finally
in the same direction,
paddling
first on one side,
then the other.

In the calming moments
when rocks were not
running up
to test us,
we found places
to lay our paddles down
and glide
in the quietness.

Both of us
checking
the sky for clouds.