Discipline
How to Dance on Land
Ten pounds of cloth and wandering clouds — playing dead
my naked form describes that chaotic zone
where water meets sand and reed
with all the pretense of an abandoned body
lolling with the lapping, asleep
in the extended now.
We ford the river blindfolded and barefoot
walk backward for a mile
do not speak
do not make eye contact
dance with the mountain
find your place in the sky
break the body’s habits
command the steel visage.
Early morning
in the four directions
we call by wing
and that sly fox
his yolk-smeared whiskers
all our eggs stolen!
…they killed him swiftly
tail hung on a hook.
We dance on land
for each of seven nights
we sleep beneath the lantern moon
a celestial ceiling
littered with stars
lullaby of ocean mist
the gentle lowing of cattle
tented silhouettes arch in ecstasy
beside the ceaseless conjoining
of rocks and…
