One more lap of water
and the knot comes undone

red canoe spinning away
from the dock
under a grey indignant sky

a southwest breeze kicks up
and nudges the craft
toward deeper water

sunfish, bass, bluegill
gaze up with wary eyes
expecting worms on hooks
to plunk and fall
from that long, lean
shadow above

the canoe jostles toward
the opposite shore
and into a dark green cove
as evening falls

dozes under willow tresses
wood and fiberglass hull
knocking on tangled roots
struggling free of the bank

~

at 1:30 in the morning
a northeast breeze
shoves the sleeping boat
away from its restful nook

back out over choppy water
into a black canyon
littered with constellations

at the center of the lake
it finds a patch of calmness
smooth and clear
as a window laid across obsidian

hung there
on the brim of 40 vertical feet
of freshwater

the red canoe drinks deeply
from the pin-pricked sky
and dreams of sinking

heavy with stars

to the sandy bottom
of the Earth.

---

Scott Waters lives in Oakland, California with his wife and son.  He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.  Scott has published previously in The Literary Nest, The Blue Nib, The Pacific Review, Loch Raven Review, Adelaide, Better Than Starbucks, A New Ulster, and other journals.  Scott’s first chapbook will be published by Selcouth Station, and his poem “I Could Be Anybody” has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.