earth note 19

koh samui thailand

when a coral reef punctured my achilles heel
i knew the dream was over
thorny stone shooting deep and clean
broken calm like a fisher's knife
orange sun drooping on a mango grove
a water creased horizon nearly swallowed
yet still squirming restless impending blackness
i step on through the reef knowing well
the pain before me
waves of your brownness curved like the shore
golden eyes aligned by moon
look past me
through tomorrow

--- e b bortz

(published in ordinary shoes, #2, 1997)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)