Walled garden, a photo by recursion_see_recursion on Flickr.
Upstream
It’s
not like you would think
sadness
it’s
like a walled garden, on the wrong side
and
when for no apparent reason
a
salmon leaps in your waters
against
the swift flowing tide
of
the dark river
you
jump
at
the unexpected
possibility
of
feeling.
So
that’s what it’s like
not
something
but
absence
and
when your daughter visits
she
feels like a stranger
you
can’t care enough
for
long enough
and
everything flops around you
and
you parody yourself.
Then
on the radio
an
artist is talking about her work
in
her studio
her
brush strokes upon your skin
your
eyes press in upon her studio window
and
you know, that every small effort
will
count.
by Cheryl Howard
© 2013
first published in Studio, #129, 2013
