You Think This Happened Only Once and Long Ago
–Marie Howe

You think this happened only once and long ago?
Think of a summer night and someone
talking across the water,
maybe someone
you loved in a boat, rowing. And you could
hear the oars dripping in the water, from
half a lake away, and they were far and
close at once. You didn’t need to touch them
or call to them or talk about it later.
–the sky? It was what you breathed. The lake?
sky that fell as rain. I have been like you
filled with worry, worry — then relief.
You know the wind is sky moving. It happens all the time.