Atop The Steep Bank of the Ohio

 

Atop the steep back of the Ohio

where one can trip and fall

into brambling bushes

i sit in awe of a molted river

not knowing where to flow.

 

I could swim across to Monaca

if there was somewhere else to go

after I've arrived in the city of asylum

riding an old giant eagle home

across the bridge water crest

 

slapped by a beaver's tailwind

an Ohio tightened freight train

one hundred soiled cars long

wafers pass the cracker plant

masking robin, cardinal, bluebird songs

 

rusty voice of a returning explorer

hearing that distant whistle blow

catching first steps of a child

from the caboose long overgrown

to the engine i come from

 

July 26, 2021