To hold it for a moment
there is always a price.
Take the seashore, endless sunlight
bursting on water—
pelicans and gulls spindive,
and the tide’s quick shift of sand
is like absence under my feet,
a net cinching tight
until I stumble.
This is the world’s gift to me
because I thought
it could be held,
thought I wouldn’t be
burned by its beauty:
it says
There is no place
solid
to stand.
Even stillness—
like the concentrated beacon
of a heron
tracking small, dark fish
under the surf—
cannot save me.
from Angel BonesFind more by Ilyse Kusnetz at the library
Copyright © 2019 Ilyse Kusnetz
Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Alice James Books.