Near the Leipsic River by Hank Kalet

Near the Leipsic River
Hank Kalet

fragility's face --
four white wooden crosses

in the grass beside a
Delaware freeway

names obscured
by the seventy mph speed

as we head home
to New Jersey

(After Lorca) by Hank Kalet

(after Lorca)
Hank Kalet

for Annie

1.
Rose quivering
in October’s gusting
cool,
last petals
swaying
falling
scattered
like dust to wind

2.
to you
I am open as
a vein to air
to the breeze
to the season’s changing strength
open
as a mind at the moment
of revelation

3.
We two
are caught in the elements,
the mud-green algae,
the murky depths,
wading from the depths
to the river’s
farthest bed,
together