Observance

When asters bloom, bind driftwood with kelp.

Be cut off.

Remove the stones that marked your turning points.

Weave a tent with goldenrod, beach pea,

and the rib of a whale.

 

With the herring, shadblow blooms.

Soak figs in wine.

Eat—on a white tablecloth—a debt of salt

(pickles, olives, smoked fish, and capers).

Clear your throat.

Burn the stems of kelp and boil the ashes.

 

Pick watercress twice a year,

and in between, snap the cattails’ seedheads.

Make the wind blow

the vetch, the clover, the elm, and rose.

Make rain fall

and remember the dead.

Filed under: Poetry