8 September 2024

By Philip Kuepper

The whole scene appeared
a bouquet bursting suddenly
into bloom: rowers, in their shells;
a mallard trailed by her chicks;
a rustle of reeds being played
by a magician hidden among them;
clouds, reflected in the water
the ducks paddled through,
after the rowers had oared through them,
littering the river with white visible
atomic cloud particles colliding with themselves.

The river appeared to be
shooting pool, with clouds as balls,
until the water settled,
the bouquet bursting into bloom image, again,
at the point the cue hits the ball,
the balls exploding in all directions at once;
and the duck chicks,
like fluffy little balls;
everything related to everything,
save the reeds being played
by the invisible magician.

Was this the same magician who played
the marsh grass in the luminous
July morn?, who must remain
mystery beyond conjecture.

(29 August 2024)