The Sinks
The best was between Job and Whitmer,
Approaching the Sinks,
The sun flashing over rocky hillsides
Wet from morning rain,
Springs surging clear from beneath
the ground.
Frank filled his canteen and drank
the water
-- Cool, clear, and clean
(Just the kind amoebas love).
He proved lucky.
Kicking gravel in a bright green
Maverick,
We harried sheep from the road
-- One college student, one would-be
blacksmith,
And Jim, who claimed "I'll die before
I'm thirty."
Pure rot. Easy to ignore while
watching water
Flow into the side of the mountain
In a cut as sharp and pretty as
Big Walker Tunnel,
Which human hands had not yet built.
A few drops of water, given time,
Outworked John Henry of the C &
O line,
Outcut the dynamite crews building
I-79,
And may outlast us all (even Jim,
48 and very much alive).
11-14-99
