The other side of a river

We live on either side of a river.

She sits in the day beneath the sun.
It seems to orbit her.
Her feet are grass soft.

At night I lie on the ground.
I am shivered by the stars.
My eyes are moon round.

Some days she spins in long grass.
Her hands stretch outwards.
Her hair is blown. She is a small storm.

Some days I stand very still.
The world breaks open.
The sky shakes her hips in front of me.
All the shades of green dance and I am flattered.

Sometimes I think she speaks to me.
Before I have heard the words fall into the water
and curl away in small pools.

When I try to talk there is so much to say
it sticks in one long sentence which catches
in the wind and blows away.

– 177 –

She shades her eyes from the sky as if she is looking.

When she swims I place my feet in the water.
My arms float like small branches.

Sometimes I think she will come to me.
At night the moon makes a bridge on the water.

Sometimes I think I will go to her.
When the wind blows I lean
on the edge of the shore like a bird
with my arms out.

We live on either side of a river.