The child’s dress caught
by a rush of wind, billowing.
Spinnaker
of blown cotton. Bright
summer cloth against blue
surrounding sky.
The fisherman’s line cast,
trawling the bay, his boat riding
the faint waves’ troughs.
Slight rise and fall
of the catching tide.
We are among the rocks
on the strewn shore.
Like them inert, observant
only. Anchored
to a turning earth.
How the day pinwheels
its pictures. Snapping one luminous
scene then another. Life appears
as though captured image,
luminous in the camera’s viewfinder.
A photographic array.
The white light fractures
prismatic. The colors of living
nailed to the sky.
Inaccessible.
We are unbound
to the laws of matter.
Remain unmoved
by the velocity of life,
the impact of bodies
coming together. The pull
of attraction.
We are bodies adrift,
honed by erosion.
We are inured
to acceleration of time.
Bind ourselves to loss
like particles
accrete to stars.
