flat white ground
matching the sky
and the trees and whatnot in between
seeming to float
i get vertigo on a mountainside
blank as an unfilled-out form
anchor myself by looking at bare leaves
in the shape of a sleeping deer
any fallen seed or leaf now
becomes a botanical specimen
i look up from the page in time
to see a vole slipping back under
its dark pelt doesn’t stop moving
even for an instant
hypertension or flow state
or maybe a bit of both
the distant limestone quarry’s
giant steps
bring us no closer either
to the ground or the sky
