Kazim Ali |
The River Cloud
On paper, on the sky, on the river’s mad meniscus
I’ve drawn a blank
Remaindered against the banks, pressed there by the current
The river dispersing into the light gray
Cloud me down by the river edged with willow
The smoke of the river cloud canticles
A thought river between shores leads out and out
River draw all this through me
What’s hidden beneath the hull of the boat
Or in the cloud of the river
Future river feeding
The charts are no good
The far shore disappears
Give it to me now to live
In the river’s unmaking epoch
Locking itself into the oars
Onto the boat my cloud
Boat my body
Body my oar
Oar and fog
Fog oar rowing
Cloud oar rowing
Kazim Ali
The River Cloud appears in The Far Mosque (Alice James Books, 2005).
Poem, copyright © 2005 by Kazim Ali
Appearing on From the Fishouse with permission
Audio file, copyright © 2005, From the Fishouse
Posted on July 14, 2005 7:13 AM