"Water Music" - Robert Creeley

The words are a beautiful music.
The words bounce like in water.

Water music,
loud in the clearing

off the boats,
birds, leaves.

They look for a place
to sit and eat--

no meaning,
no point.


-Robert Creeley

Algebra

something equally beautiful
in the deer running from the wolf
and the surrendering in fatigue
at the end of the chase-
      the lying down, gentle,
      just; the flight for life scared,
      right.

Two Men

Two men are looking
into each other's eyes.
To this, we must ask,
"Does it matter?"

Three birds are like
a family except
the larger one has slain
the smaller.  The third
looks on.  To this
we must ask:
Does it matter?

One woman stands by
a fire hydrant.  The red
matches her lipstick.
The proverbial dog is
pissing on the paint.
To this you might ask,
"Does it matter?"

A catfish has whiskers
like a cat, except
this cat breathes water
and in fact is not a cat at all.
It is a fish.
Upon reflection it asks
Does it matter?

Four moths will keep light
a social setting.  Four shadows
in a night appearing darker
at the edge of streetlights.
Eight pairs of wings-
unless, perhaps, moths
have more than two.
To this I ask,
"Does it matter?"

In early April,
New Hampshire lakeside, a child
steps into water