from Canto Fermo
        OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE PATH

I came to an embankment
of geese, a startling number,
the vision of which was
strongest when I closed
my eyes. I saw the geese
with my ears, so to speak,
and I spoke with my skin—
the dream I was lost in.
The wind threw dust
off the pages of trees
up to where I stood near
the embankment of geese,
their image in my hands.
I listened to them
opening their beaks,
turning their heads, loud
as my pounding heart.
I watched them with a bit
of my own eyes, a bit
of yours that I had found
hidden in some straw.
They didn't stir apart from
their usual stirring or break
their gaze—it was as good
a time as any to be happy
with what was before me.

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Copyright © 2012 Christopher Kondrich All rights reserved
from Cimarron Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission