Cutthroat Spawn

Saint Paul, 8 December 2005

When our compass of daylight pivots

To exceed night and floodwaters recede

A cutthroat is bewitched to her flank

Lashing her tail by compulsory currents

To summon weightless river stones

June's clear waters marshal her mate

Luring a courtship to her cubbyhole

He levitates in vernal musk above her

Then presses his body to her margin

Nudging and quivering to reconcile

Private penumbras illuminate her flesh

Arched head and tail bent skyward

She bids him to join her in the redd

Gaping into suspended shimmer

Then vibrating to shuck spring’s ribbons

He darts released to the mainstream

She hightails with parting gestures

Sweeping gravel off the upstream rim

Caching corkscrew codes into braids

Poised to gyrate like planetary spin