North of North

When I passed on the road a stranger
I nodded. It was best to say less.
A long way I went on foot I gathered.
Yellow pocket finch. Straw mouse.
A mink coiled through underbrush near
Where the dog drowned. Keep walking,
Mister, someone spoke, so I did.
Some bark some leaves fixed my shoes
And put me straight Still marsh water
Soaked the arches, my heels got the broken
Feeling, so light then in the head
I couldn't catch one hare. A spoon of dirt,
A bit of birch, my teeth, then what.
For a place to sleep, stranger, I'll give you
These, which I never said, and by
The end I lay simply down behind a wall
Where the rain made me all of half wet.
No nurse would I confess my travel to,
The nature of it, and its natures,
Even now, after the dream has begun.

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Copyright © 2011 James Haug All rights reserved
from Conduit
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission