O Y S T E R   B O Y   R E V I E W   1 1 P O E T R Y   A N N U A L   1 9 9 9
G R E Y   O V E R   G R E E N

Thomas A. Clark

 
a mist rising from water
drifts grey over green
a slow mist of willows
billowing clouds of hills

beneath reflected trees and hills
where a mallard pushes an arc
of light into darkness
a body of water slips away

mist is gathered by leaves
to fall as rain beneath the trees
with a sound that will not carry
beyond the edge of the wood

a bedraggled vole
runs out over floating leaves
where the fall of a leaf
can redistribute meaning

after the shower
it goes on raining
gently on the pond
under the willow

the water as it slows
through watercress discovers
the calm of a completed form
to ripple away from

this stillness is around
stillness like a wall
and I must break through
this stillness to be still

a few worn steps
lead down into an orchard
where it is already late
beneath the laden boughs

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