Tom Snarsky

KEEP TALKING

Hounding for sapphires, my life
continues like a court case neither party
has their hearts in anymore. Legal fee days

give way to sluicewater nights, the river
is so cold you can’t do
a whole pan in one go,

you have to split it up like gravel
in the crusher. My dreams
have gotten harder & harder

to remember, I know
I’m still having them somehow
but most mornings I awake blank, alarmed

& disprepared. Asparagus touches my head
gently, with a paw through the rods
holding up the stair rail.

Are you okay says his face.
Yes, you’re okay
says his walking away