South Of Somewhere, North Of Somewhere Else

A guy in mid-limbo.  He’s poker chip thin,
a rejected toothpick.  A sapling, really, full of those fruit,
the ones in the song.  A swamp full of teeth, dams broken,
shirt worn inside out in haste, shoes tied loose-bowed.

A sassy fire in a clearing on the riverbank.
A woman not quite girl anymore.  A class-aware
stumbling block.  Her hair’s cinnamon and brass,
a rebellion. A murmur of sticks and speeding.

A woman’s baby rolling home. It’s not yet
a button. A corrugation in a stellar bridge.
A missed apprehension. A face darklit, shadowed fur,
a broken comb. A broken cloth. A break.