Thanks for the side prompt on panning, Peg. Solid images.

This is delightful.

Also reposted today at:
http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.com/2011/07/heartaches.html

HEARTACHES

By the time I fill up to the brim,
I ‘d have coughed up sediments
of crushed stones, jagged pebbles
and the craw-sticking bone chips
that remain from downstream
sieving for the one golden nugget
that was never there. I thirst still.

But the summers of our pine city
refuge have come and gone, too,
with our windy spaces, now left
as frozen wind tunnels when you
abandoned the cone-strewn trails
for your will-o’-the-wisp: a full
bowl of nectar laced with laughter.

—Albert B. Casuga
07-10-11

Lovely lines about the panning heart, Peg.