Walking by the lake, after studying Torah
And Jacob woke from his sleep and said …this is the gateway to the sky.
—Genesis 28:16-17
From days inside as if
underwater light, the worked
tissue of verses: onto a lake
trail, into almost snow. Collapsed
cattail husks, bare willow,
a wooden ladder drifts up
through the straying branches. Time
slowed down by the quiet almost
until we’re holding our
breath. Here in a spot with oil
on the stones, ice skin on little
puddles, a glitter surprised on the ground.
Dan Alter’s poems have been published in journals including Field, Fourteen Hills, Pank, and Zyzzyva; his first collection My Little Book of Exiles is forthcoming from Eyewear Press. He lives with his wife and daughter in Berkeley and makes his living as an electrician. He can be found online at https://danalter.net/