Granite Water

following the tributary
plunging into the alders
and willow
slabs of bark
shattered logs
printing
the mica sand
and last years leaves—
the floating bracts
of dogwood over
stepping down
the igneous crystalline
jointed boulders
and azalea banks
to the maple elevation
and last cascade

We reached the Stanislaus
the May water
of suspended minerals
and lifeless velocity
sometimes flying
pushing out anything loose
including any thought
of dipping in

We only watched the fear
as it shot by unchallenged
from one churn
to the next
like a falcon in pursuit
of June
.
.
.
Avocet, 1999