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)