ENCOUNTER 

gift-giver 
smile-maker 

all ears and arse 
ripe for a new father 

alone 

sea-tallow 
bread and salt 
young maid’s water 

nothing else to do 

threw his leg at her 
she fell down bleeding 

pools of dead rain 
he limped away 

charred logs of trees 
she wept after him




                     (1968)