slip on mud slick
just past the head
point of the path
land fairly un-
balanced on leaf
dust ground up
under feet bare
ground beneath
that rarely seen
at scale but never-
theless teeming
~~~
mud carpet made
architectonic with
monocot husks. how
close will trespass
let me see black
shapes approach
the forest’s front door?
banks built up
by roots, blistering
sorts of bark and
poison ivy’s allergic
blisses slope the cause-
way down into river.
branches wrenched
through liquid move-
ment back to gas
or solid. through three
transitional states
water remains
perfectly neutral
returning; rises
and dissipates
according to given
limits knows where
it’s going remembers
landscape at molecular
levels will not end
willingly becomes
whatever needs it
without thinking
~~~
mud shore frozeninto solidcross-hatch
crushedtallgrassland bows
under icepath cutsa gnarledstaircase
your thumb’sa compassat whatangles do
weather-felled limbspiercewinter cover
one way to knowwater isby hand