A Path Between Houses

    And where is the house of darkness？

    Go about； walk the limits of the land.

    Do you know a path between them？

    Job 38：19-20

    The enigma² of August.

    Season of dust and teenage arson³.

    The nightly whine⁴ of pickup⁵ trucks

    bouncing through the sumac

    beneath the Co-Operative power lines，

    country & western booming from woofers

    carved into the doors. A trace of smoke

    when the wins shifts，

    spun⁶ gravel⁷ rattling⁸ the fenders of cars，

    the groan⁹ of clutch and transaxle，

    pickup trucks， arriving at a friction¹⁰ point，

    gunning from nowhere to nowhere.

    The duets begin. A compact disc，

    a single line of muted trumpet¹¹，

    plays against the sirens

    pursuing the smoke of grass fires.

    I love a painter. On a new canvas，

    she paints the neighbor's field.

    She paints it without trees，

    and paints the field beyond the field，

    the field that has no trees，

    and the upturned Jesus boat，

    made into a planter，

    "For God so loved the world. . ."

    a citation¹² from John， chapter and verse，

    splattered across the bow

    the boat spills roses into the weeds.

    What does the stray dog know，

    after a taste of what is holy？

    The sun pulls her shadow toward me，

    an undulant shape that shelters the grass，

    an unaimed thing.

    In the gray house， the tiny house，

    in '52 there was a fire. The old woman，

    drunk and smoking cigarettes， fell asleep.

    The winter of the blizzard¹³ and her son

    Not coming home from the Yalu.

    There are times I still smell smoke.

    There are days I know she set the fire

    and why.

    Last night， lightning to the south.

    Here， nothing， though along the river

    the wind upends a willow¹⁴，

    a gorgon¹⁵ of leaves and bottom-up clod

    browning in the afternoon sun.

    In the museum we dispute

    the poet's epiphany call——

    white light or more warmth？

    And what is the Greek word for the flesh，

    and the body apart from the spirit，

    meaning even the body opposed to the spirit？

    I do not know this word.

    Dante claims there are pools of fire

    in the middle regions of hell，

    but the lowest circles are lakes of ice，

    offering the hope our greatest sins

    aren't the passions but indifference¹⁶.

    And the willow grew for years

    With no real hold upon the ground.

    How the accident occurred

    and how the sky got dark：

    Six miles from my house，

    a drunk leaves the Holiday Inn

    spins on 104 and smacks¹⁷ a utility pole.

    The power line sparks

    across the hood¹⁸ of his Ford¹⁹

    and illuminates²⁰ the crazed spider web

    of the windshield. His bloody²¹ tongue burns

    with a slurry gospel. Around me，

    the lights go down，

    the way death is described

    as armor crashing to the ground，

    the soul having already departed

    for another place. Was it his body I heard

    leaning against the horn，

    the body's final song， before the body

    slumped²² sideways in the seat？

    When I was a child，

    I would wake at night

    and imagine a field of asteroids²⁴， rolling

    across the walls of my room.

    In fact， I've seen them，

    like the last herd²⁵ of buffalo²⁶，

    grazing against the background of fixed²⁷ stars.

    Plate 420 shows the asteroid²³ 433 Eros，

    the bright point of light， as it closes its approach

    to light. I loose myself in Cygnus，

    ancient kamikaze swan，

    rising or diving to earth，

    Draco， snarling²⁸ at the polestar，

    and Pegasus， stone horse of the gods，

    ecstatic， looking one last time at home.

    August and the enigma it is.

    Days when I move in crabbed²⁹ circles，

    nights when I walk with Jesus through the fields.

    What finally stands between us

    and the world of flying things？

    Mobbed by jays， the Cooper's hawk³⁰

    drops the dead bird. It tumbles

    beneath the cedar³¹ tree，

    tiny acrobat³² of death，

    a dead bird released

    in a failed act of atonement.

    A nest of wasps³³ buzzing beneath the shingles³⁴，

    flickers³⁵ drilling the cottonwood，

    jays， sparrows， the insistent³⁶ wrens³⁷，

    the language of birds， heads cocked，

    staring the moon-eyed through the air.

    Sedge， asters， and fleabane，

    red tins of gasoline and glowing cigarettes，

    the midnight voice of a fourteen-year-old girl

    wailing³⁸ the word "blue" from the pickup's open doors，

    illuminated³⁹ by the dome⁴⁰ light，

    the sulphurous rasp of another struck match，

    and foxglove， goldenrod and chicory，

    the dry flowers of late summer，

    an exhaustion⁴¹ I no longer look at.

    Time passes. The authorities

    gather the wreckage⁴²， the whirr

    of cicadas， and light dissembles the sky.

    A wind shift， and the Cedar Creek⁴³ fire

    snaps the backfire line

    and roars through the cemetery⁴⁴.

    In the morning，

    I walk a path between houses.

    I cross to the water

    and circle again， the redwings

    forcing me back from the marsh⁴⁵.

    Smoke rises from a fire

    still smoldering⁴⁶ along the power lines，

    flaring⁴⁷ and exhausting itself

    in the shape of something lost.

    Grass fires， fires through the scrub

    of the clear-cut， fires in the pulpwood，

    cemetery fires，

    the powder of ash still untracked

    beneath the enormous trees，

    fires that explode the seed cones⁴⁸

    on the pines， the smoke of set fires

    and every good intention gone wrong，

    scorching⁴⁹ the monuments

    above the graves of the dead.