What it Means to Live Downstream

My family doesn’t gather
aggregaterockssmoothed
for holidays
madebytidalritual
we don’t see each other smiling
riverweavestheuniverse
over roast turkeys and heavy
alivinggift
boxes wrapped in green foil.


I know no stories
salmonrocksriveroceanwillow
of previous generations
wovenlikebasketsoverandunder
somebody was a farmer
watersinksintosoil
somebody was an aristocrat
waterblessesthebody
there is the Finnish front
waterdefinesboundaries
there a Catholic
waterissanctified
there not.


Without God to tell us
whatitmeanstolivedownstream
what the land is for
beyondtheuseofwater
what women are for
beyondtheuseofman
we hold dominion only
riverweavestheuniverse
over ourselves.