River Crossing
Brian Henry
There, where stones populate
the underneath1, splay(张开,展开)
rain as it blends & stops
being rain, raises the river,
water into water, stone
into soil, too slick to stand
or walk, too wide to freeze
or span, to cross you must
swim, the current a visible
instance of movement:
you'd enter the water here &
if not pulled under
would emerge so far down-
stream the crossing'd require
another journey entirely2,
on foot, over uncertain terrain3(地形,地势) ,
over what, through ownership,
through deed, is called property,
thus encroachment4(侵犯,侵蚀) , thus trespass5.
The mind, though, can cross,
along with the eye (where it can see).
The body, my dear, counts for
so little—nothing, really—here.