This week, in between our issues on bodies and transportation, we’ll be publishing the fruits of our first guest editor collaboration with Aaron Nell. A poet, cyclist, and deep lover of place, Aaron agreed to work with us after we met at the Earlham School of Religion writers’ colloquium last fall. His prompt of “water and wings” attracted five fine poems and we can’t wait to share them with you over the next several days. In the meantime, enjoy this selection from poet Dave Harrity, another new friend from the Earlham colloquium. This is from Dave’s most recent collection of poems called These Intricacies.
At Spofford Lake
by Dave Harrity
The lake is quiet, but if we listen
we can hear the clap of crane wings,
splashes on the water’s sleepy face.
Around the small canoe, the fog
holds still. We cast out lines into cloud
riffling the silence. My father and I
say nothing to each other. I watch
my line, try to follow the thread into
and through the brume to where
the water puckers, swallows the hook.
It’s hard to see. The bait is gone.
So I listen to him breathe, the boat’s sides
balancing against the calm, the space
our voices could have filled if I had said
I was all right with saying nothing.
Read more from These Intricacies at The Englewood Review of Books. Those interested in a guest editor collaboration for Topology can find ideas and guidelines here.
