A simple footbridge
would be enough for crossing this narrow river
when it's swollen, but there's only slippery partly underwater
rocks,
small spouts funneling,
or humping water over.
With waterproof
overshoes, and a bamboo stalk for balance, I'd pick
my way across but not today. Shapeshifters are the happiest beings
paddling as a beaver, circling as a hawk. These aspirations keep
me
wondering what
it means to be human, upstream
where water bubbles between adamant boulders,
and dropped leaves sink into pebble-strewn
mud.