Riverbank by Hoonah

you drew it with a tired hand
a sleeping horse in golden sand
and there along the riverbank
your heart sang, my heart sank

night after night without a word to say
wondering what lies a star’s length away
I wonder what it is they’ve shown you and you alone

you heard the songbird saunter in
singing the salt off torn-up skin
and in her quiet charcoal stains
your heart remains, my heart remains

our fingers try at the knot every day
longing to hold what’s a stone’s throw away
tree, will you answer my prayer if I climb?
undo the pain of the passage of time
was there a time we could have known you and you alone?

• Folk
• Massachusetts