On a Line by Su Tung-p'o

--Wendy Battin

Only now that we've come and come to rest,

now that we've hinged apart like wings,

back-stroked on the bed and sinking--

boatmen and waterbirds

dream the same dream: the dream of not flying.

No one else dreams it.

 

Another Line from Su Tung-p'o

"Only the twilight crow knows how I feel."

--Wendy Battin

Only a fluke of sight,

the astigmatic

twilight makes a

crow shimmer. Who

knows black feathers knows

how no-light finds its prism.

I was not light this morning, now I

feel I scatter.