It is still
where the waters
run deep
where fathoms lie
between surface and
depths.
You could drown
without
a trace.
But the river is alive
in the deep places
wide awake.
It is like watching
a grizzly or
snow leopard or
Leviathan:
you don’t dare
move
lest he notices
and flees or turns
and swallows you whole.
Only the shallows
are noisy
with constant
motion
drowning all
listening,
speaking all
day
yet saying nothing.
m. buchanan
begin Oct 1/15, finished Feb 1/16