it's alive!
i promise myself
an open shoulder spring
to seize the day
with my bare skin offering to the still sapling sun
i promise
i'll be with the water all summer
like this dress collects the world and carries it with her
and tells the kingfisher where i'll see her
and birds, i remember, are not so afraid
when it's only your head
when you're a waterline bobber
some funny duck visitor
like a mandarin duck but
i promise
for the summer, enough
for a fishing companion