Mississippi River Gorge, March 2020
Remember when your son was young
and so upset he would turn
to jelly and
ooze down the
couch
in surrender. Not giving in
but giving up control—a
puddle of parts
pooled at your
feet.
Learn to retreat like this. Let your
bones dissolve legs liquefy
gravity win.
Seep deep be-
neath
layers of loam sandstone limestone
shale. Drop lower and lower
and lower. Gain
weight as you
fall
between cracks fit through fissures slip
slowly past sewer pipes. Carve
out a door. Take
it so far
in
out is another idea.
Seek the source collect yourself
at the river.
Settle in.
Wait.
It begins with twenty seconds
from a song that’s not happy
birthday. Sing while
you scour
the
surface of your dread scrub off each
layer watch as they drip down
the drain on their
way to the
gorge.