Provenance


(a narrative, in mosaic form)



[an invocation]


a call
on heights
                    ( — these
church-tall trees —
                                   their spires — ) . . .


i. arriving

[an image]


a nub
            of
sand clenched tight inside
                                               his fist

[a root]


containing

sun ( — its
seed — ): the

mind through stone

[a covenant]


yes: this

completes
us: this: this

single word

[a source]


left

        face
to
      face

             we
lie
       beside

                    the river . . .


ii. testing

[an intimation]


penumbra —

shading

hope, pro-

leptic, odd

[a defiance]


this

         dancing on
all fours;
                 this

joy of beasts

[a fulfilment]


our
        wings
adopt

            the air:

                           we
swerve away

[an observation]


it
     sees
              us
here: the word-
                             contorted
light

[a culmination]


so —
         brimming
pestilence —
                       sky
                               wrestles
                                                earth . . .


iii. settling

[an equilibrium]


new life ( — a newer

dust — ): torn

from ( — brought to — )

[a bond]


our questing

tongues; our

perfect exit-

wound

[a clearing]


some
           breeze

                         to break
                                           sparse

branches

                   out
to air

[a construction]


our Crusoe-

proud response: "we

made it

home"

[a home (for david and jo)]


( — a place you

carry to, carry

between — )

[a legacy]


we stoop
                  to
keep
          the scene
immaculate