A slight wrinkle      on the pond           as he said

 

all that’s left of        this life is             what remains

 

for the next              three redwings      motionless now

 

atop cattails             are match tips        soon enough

 

to strike out            this evening on      one black flame

Copyright © 2018 by David Baker. Used with permission of the author. “Physics of the Breeze” originally appeared in The Yale Review.