“Lap and drag. Crag and gleam.
That continual work of wave
And tide, like a wet wind, blowing
The earth down to nothing.”
—Tracy K. Smith, from “Minister of Saudade” (in Duende)
When laws of motion become lairs,
it’s time to reconsider the quarry
and what it might hold. She stopped
buying bathing suits when she learned
the truth about limits. Love
lies at the bottom
of the bottomless. There she’ll be—
denying her need
for oxygen. Not a little death.
Not a death at all.