<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', sans-serif;font-size:16px;border-collapse:collapse"><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">WATER & WEATHER, THE SUN </span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">My mouth makes ice cream from mulch,</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">I reach the farther shore. </span></font><i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">Come</span></font></i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">, I motion,</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">& you follow, skidding across the surface</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">on your homegrown skidding thing. It floats</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">along famously, as well as any ski.</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">After a casual assault, the sun retreats.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">My elbows have gone all naugahyde, knees</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">skinned to the bone from the day’s begging.</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">I bury my nethers in the sand and wait</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">for your journey to be complete, sand fleas</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">scatter as if I’d brought a rod & hooks.</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">The ice cream is gone but it was good.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">I nod off & doze, missing the moment</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">you go under. The skidding thing skids</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt">

<font face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><br></span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0pt"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"><br>
</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">CAREFUL NOW<br> <br> <br></span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">That’s a baby</span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">you’re holding.</span></font></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px">

<font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></p></div><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"><br></span></font><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><b><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">Brian Henry</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> is the author of five books of poetry, most recently </span></font><i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">The Stripping Point</span></font></i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> (Counterpath). His translation of the Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun’s</span></font><i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">Woods and Chalices</span></font></i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> (Harcourt) appeared in 2008, and his translation of Aleš Šteger’s </span></font><i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small">The Book of Things</span></font></i><font face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:small"> is forthcoming from BOA Editions. A Serbian edition of Henry’s poems will appear in 2010.</span></font></div>

<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><br></span></font></div></span><br>-- <br>RealPoetik<br>
<a href="http://www.realpoetik.org" target="_blank">www.realpoetik.org</a><br>