Another poem, discovered as I was packing. Evidently, I had to include certain words, chosen by the audience, hence, “the niceties of samosas and ivory smiles.” What does it all mean?
The Snoqualmie River
Baptism
You have arrived at the place where the water turns south,
the place where you dispense with the niceties of samosas and ivory smiles.
It is the tertiary question that will hopscotch you to the truth.
The first: With what adjective
does one define waiting?
The second: Connect the dots;
what feather image forms itself?
The third: Listen to each breath.
It is enough.
Now you swim wearing only
the questions—
a kind of nakedness that offers you no foothold,
only the shock of full
immersion,
the rush of current,
your own strong lungs.
Analyze That!