In the muggy creek,

your oval body curves 

like an onyx bead.

Animal-like, heat is in heat

& there’s nothing to live 

in fear of but, rather, 

to long for—

Legs, muscled 

oarsmen paddling 

the sky. Legs, 

tendrils of light—

The blue-grey crepuscule

confessed—

How do you say no 

to your shell’s

timid waning?

Moon-bellied, you crawl 

over velvet twigs, buffalograss, broken beer glass.

The rocks governed 

by their chatty flesh.

Look: Binoculars of your eyes.

A gentle erosion. The mountain, 

opening its egret-beak.

---