Easy, this lake
sheds its bark
and each ripple
makes room :birdcalls
and the sky
almost raining
wider and wider
–a great tree
fallen on its roots
and each splash
leafs out dead
rids itself
and those same footsteps
passing you naked
taken away
as shadows and ice
weighted down
holding you back
–simple! you toss
and this tiny stone
is further and further
the deep breath
no longer choking
water and birdsong.
Simon Perchik is an attorney whose poems have appeared in Partisan Review, Forge,Poetry, Osiris, The New Yorker and elsewhere. His most recent collection is The Osiris Poemspublished by box of chalk, 2017. For more information, including free e-books, his essay titled “Magic, Illusion and Other Realities”please visit his website at www.simonperchik.com.