mounds timbers points
groves islands savannas
a language of prairies
 
- John Knoepfle, "east in mclean county,"
 
 
We talked over words,
inside them, about twisted
roots, articulate land,
 
but I could have better
listened--again--
to the lilted languages
 
and tindered skies
caught tight and taut
in your memory's
 
frugal, generous eye.
Look--again--my foot
keeps time under my
 
chair, taking steps
in place, in place
in places I go through
 
when--instead--like you
I should dance the dirt
down deep with measured
 
steps, and stay.