We go to the river down
The street. Drive there.
Because if C walks. He
May not get there. And
When we do. When we
Get there we go to the
Edge of it. Where water
Overlaps and it is lapping
Over the earth and it is a
Hairline. I touch his. Touch
His hairline and I say see it.
And C is looking down or
How his fingers search on
The screen of his iPad for
A glossary and a word and
The words river bank come
Out. Synthetic. How a bank
Is the ground that meets
The water where. Where
The water meets the land.
And C is standing on this
Hairline saying one word.
Water. Or how I am holding
Onto him. Holding onto his
Back. The back of his shirt
Bunched up in my fist. Like
A stalk. Just keeping him here.
Keeping him from jumping in.
And I tell him about science.
How the scientists used to
Collect data. And count the
Species. How they used to
Count what they could see.
And nothing else. And he is
Kneeling now. Knees in soft
Bank and his shirt in my fist.
That stalk. His head leaning
Over the water like the head
Of a sunflower. The capitulum.
All disc and brain. Full of ideas
And words that no one knows.
No one I think. Like seeds. And
I tell him. That now. Scientists
Collect samples from the river.
How in the water. There is DNA.
From all the species that live in it.
In their feces. And shed from skin.
How scientists can know a species
Is there now. Living in the water.
Even. Even if they cannot see it.
And I am kneeling too. Letting go
Of his shirt. Limp stalk and I am
Surrounding him. His torso with
My thighs. So I can let go but he
Will stay. And I take his hands and
Cup them inside the cup of mine.
My hands. Into the water. Until
We are holding it. A river in our
Hands. And all that lives in it. Or
How I whisper to him.
Whisper the word here.
Whisper trout and stone flies and
Ducks or otter. How they are all
Here.
Whether anyone can see them or
Not.
I am whispering. Past the petals
Of his hair. And the fact that he can
Not speak more than this. How I am
Whispering and you.
Whispering and you.
the sustainability of us 