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.