Gorge
Wading upriver
risking brash water
for where torrents meet
we pay no heed
to rumour, play counter to
the rules. Our snakes draw us up.
Against the heft of us
the muscular current
its tang of iron
spawns the power and fury
inside us. We will plunge
through white spray
this privileged view
gorge rising
blue gash of sky
brindled fish swept seawards
backwash of pearls.
Beware the flash
of our Medusa stare.
Beware, we well up.
from The Knucklebone Floor (Smokestack 2022)
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