Outside listening
to the merry mystic music
swaying in the wind before the storm
Rain smells heavy in the air
noisy with the breath of life

Everything's stirring in this spring pool
someone's slamming shutters
dust dances on the roof
the engines' cool soft hum
on the street below

In bed between the crisp sheets
whispering
lingering
Another engine's growl
the wind wilds the fragrance of oil
and gasoline
my face is dampened
the sky crying open
over my head

One house
solitary
below the clouds
spinning out of direction
up and up:
the street
the neighborhood
the valley
the hills
the cold eye of the sun above the clouds

Can I follow the course of the river
all the way to New Orleans?
Hocking
Ohio
Mississippi
The Delta
River queen and voodoo mamma
are you all that you seem?
May I trouble you for awhile --
I'm searching for a book
A life

But here and now
the gentle patter of the rain
cleansing power or rebirth

I dreamed I saw a gray wolf dying
shrunken eyes and ribs
caved-in belly
I looked at the tired woolly wolf
its big plaintive eyes unsettled --
perhaps I had been expected
"I'm sorry!" I cried
"What else could I do?"

The wolf lay down its head
saying nothing at all