rivers
rage long before you do          squint, see her there          still holding onto your arm but
not in any companionable way          old folks rave about pirates          men with thin
noses          knife-noses plundering riverbanks          to gauge          to gadgets          Mississippi
spits them up from somewhere else          careful numbers          sharp instruments.



new madrid
where the river ran backwards          sudden islands          brand-new riverbottom with
full houses your measuring devices          looking to eddies          and mud for answers.
distant firecrackers          that night          the one you keep mentioning      



width
smooths center of earthquake          fields rolled like water          riverbottom pushed up as
brand-new ground          river purely swallowed old ground          some down          others up
          all across. 



depth
impossible measuring 	 
discouraged boats      
careful wishing          careful digging



depth
digging careful          wishing careful    
boats discouraged
measuring impossible



width
wish begins love          stare across water          curse is wish made true          (spit)          then,
despite wisdom, regulations, best practices          wishes granted          electrification
leads wishers          across.



new madrid
back from riverbank          places have more permanence          ground barely shifting
behind skeletons of devices, towers and levers          scars deeper than good riddance
small wound ministrations          staying transforms mystery to petty annoyance 



rivers
no one wants again          that thing with fingernails          closer          water moving in
strange swirls          rivers bring the unexpected          what’s been spit out          towns scoot
further back from banks          you all walk up and throw things in 
you need it to take back.