water
some seasons, swelling, pooling, wet / some seasons ebbing, buried, unseen
march/april
slushy thaw / cold and wet / hibernators stir / and long-distance migrants return
may/june
spring rains / pool and puddle / migration ends / and the land / comes to life
july/august
muddly land, humid air / water abounds / and life drinks
september/october
the land becomes / parched and / water is out of reach / for many
november/december
icy rain, first snow / the land becomes wet / just in time / to freeze once more
january/february
the ground turns / icy hard / life slows, but thrives / nonetheless
Bad news for her mother
Yes, I shall write it all down, you old cow,
all: the first time, the last time, all the times
in between, and then all the times I should
have liked there to have been. I shall go on
writing it down even out of habit,
till there is nothing left to exorcise.
You may judge from that the emotional
debt I feel your lovely daughter owes me.
(p.11)
B.S. Johnson, Poems Two