Allan Peterson
Seeing the Yazoo
Once the dead were just across a river
I recalled that seeing the Yazoo
No boatman upstream but a winch
and a rusted platform
to take oneself across by pulleys and ropes
Cypress on the far side
seemed expectant and gathered at the edge
A shadow was breathing for my shirt
Complex is inexhaustible The world is
everything and what imagination adds
You can see how enormous this gets
Instead of crossing we wrote our wishes
on paper boats and sent them downstream