Poem for Amy

The poem begins
early, or it begins
mid-morning

the poem begins
with a song in a garden
or a lifted head.

Her water song begins
early with a lifted
voice and head

Waking I find her holding
the song in cupped hands
I find the song running

into the well of her hands
Waking I find her walking carefully
the song in her hands, singing

“level on the stairs
and in the garden evenly
level on the stairs
and in the garden evenly”

Waking I find her preparing
herself and singing
water into a tired garden.

July 20, 1988