8 a.m.
for Marc Hempel


Remember today:
row boat, far channel, early start.
Wake, lying on a straw-stuffed brick.
Shift under attic-scented blankets.
Feet touch and stick
to the cool wood floor.
Smell the lake air
warming.
Pull the speckled curtain from the door
and see straight through to the water.
Hissing kettle and a plate of donuts.


© 1980 John Goss