Skin Canoes

by Carolyn Forché

Carolyn Forché

Swallows carve lake wind,
trailers lined up, fish tins.
The fires of a thousand small camps   
spilled on a hillside.

I pull leeks, morels from the soil,
fry chubs from the lake in moonlight.   
I hear someone, hear the splash, groan   
of a waterpump, wipe my mouth.   
Fish grease spits at darkness.

Once I nudged a canoe through that water,   
letting its paddle lift, drip.
I was sucked down smaller than the sound   
of the dropping, looked out
from where I had vanished.

From: 
Gathering the Tribes





Last updated December 01, 2022