Poems by J.I. Kleinberg
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What the Stream Knows
by J.I. Kleinberg
From Canary Spring 2020
J.I. lives in the Strait of Georgia watershed, between Squalicum Creek and Whatcom Creek, in a region dominated by majestic and, for the moment, quietly volcanic Mount Baker.
The water gathers
down from the pines
crosses the road
in a thin rippled sheet
finds a throat between houses
and washes in rivulets
over pine needles
toward the lake.
I try to repair it there
to encourage a single stream
lift and place one rock
then another
watch the slow liquid cut
through duff and dirt
and when the water insists
on diversion ignores
my intrusive engineering
I turn away stone-fisted
abandon the stream
walk toward the road
where I glance back
see at once
what the stream knows:
soft declivity between trees
pocket of gravel
and far below
where the lake licks
a large boulder
a spray of sand
left by the stream:
it has been here before.
Hands in its icy flow
I remove one rock then another
and let it lead me to the shore.
© J.I. Kleinberg