On Pulling a Wake

Bridge & Swimmer

Our eye goes past the hieroglyphic tree to the swimmer

carving a wake in the water. And almost to the railroad bridge

from which the swimmer might have dived. Then, as though

come to the end of its tether,

our gaze returns, pulling toward the blemish

on the surface of the print. An L-shaped chemical dribble,

it sabotages the scene’s transparence

and siphons off its easy appeal.

At the same time, the blemish

joins together the realms

of seer and swimmer

in our experience of plunging

into and out of the image.