The air is warmer
at the river’s edge.
The insects cloud
around his head,
and the cottage
his wife's father
built by hand
blazes white,
as if burning
in the afternoon sun.
The hammock strung
between two dogwood
trees twists in the wind,
channeling the murmur
of the song she sang when the children
were small and sunkissed,
splashing in shallow water,
catching minnows.
The allure surfaces
silvered and swift:
the temptation
to imagine her calling
from the other side.
The slap of a fish jumping
lands like a palm to his cheek.
Out there, in the middle distance,
silver scales flash in clear water—
a contorted shadow swims below,
hooked to impossible brightness.
Mar 2, 2017
Mar 2, 2017 at 5:15 PM UTC
The air is warmer
at the river’s edge.
The insects cloud
around his head,
and the cottage
his wife's father
built by hand
blazes white,
as if burning
in the afternoon sun.
The hammock strung
between two dogwood
trees twists in the wind,
channeling the murmur
of the song she sang when the children
were small and sunkissed,
splashing in shallow water,
catching minnows.
The allure surfaces
silvered and swift:
the temptation
to imagine her calling
from the other side.
The slap of a fish jumping
lands like a palm to his cheek.
Out there, in the middle distance,
silver scales flash in clear water—
a contorted shadow swims below,
hooked to impossible brightness.
