I was astonished at the mysterious slow-motion quality
The water was at a standstill because of the severity
of the wind,
taking on the glassy sheen described by authors who are moved
by personal destiny
and buy photographic postcards to capture the touched-up beauty
in which monks are chanting or the moss is growing up the north
side
of the rock walls extending like the Handel aria she sang, her
voice a waterfall
reaching from the top beyond the line of vision into the chasm
I fell into
in my dreams later that afternoon as I seemed to keep falling
into
no matter the various devices staged to prevent such an inexplicable
loss of
balance in the sounds are stilled and by coincidence I feel it
all
because at this time of year the shadows lengthen across the lawn
where someone makes her inarticulate way in the same direction.
About the Author
Martha Ronk is the author of Why/Why Not and In a landscape of having to repeat, winner of PEN USA’s 2005 Literary Award for poetry. Her forthcoming book, Vertigo, was a winner of the 2006 National Poetry Series Open Competition.
