David Koehn
Lele Quatern
Bay and I walk the Delta’s sloughs, we call the frisson
on the back of our necks from the coyotes in the buckeye
lele, a shared feeling for us, not just the sound of stones colliding.
Some days my stomach sinks and lights up at a hawk's nest,
other days Bay laughs out loud at how we mislabeled this picklegrass.
Bay and I walk the Delta’s sloughs, we call the frisson
glowing at the base of our eyes in embers of our macula
while watching the carp’s backfin work its way through hyacinth, lele. Because gnats in our face, ears, nose, mouth, eyes ululate
bliss, the lele, and the opening soundtrack of your favorite sitcom.
Bay and I walk the Delta’s sloughs, we call the frisson
in the nerves of the surface of the thimbleberry leaf, lele.
The join of Werner Dredge Cut to cirrus fishtails,
air tilted with iron from the island’s abattoir, lele, we say,
Bay and I walk the Delta’s sloughs, we call the frisson. Lele.
Spinoza to Weil
Attention gathers like dew on thyme.
I grind lenses before dawn. Emery dust
bites the fingers. The wheel hums its low prayer.
You fasted again. I slice an apple thin,
green skin snapping, the room sharp with pectin.
Attention gathers like dew on thyme.
Attention, you said, weighs more than effort,
I watch light bend through soda-lime glass.
Outside, frost feathers the canal stones,
a barge drags chains, iron rasping iron:
attention gathers like dew on thyme.
Those who betrayed us keep tidy accounts;
their boots leave clean prints on muddy stairs.
Salt the water to begin, but also end with salt.
Crystals, their alchemy, click against the bowl.
Attention gathers like dew on thyme.
David Koehn is the author of three books of poetry: "Twine," "Scatterplot," and "Sur." He also co-edited Compendium, revisiting Donald Justice's approach to prosody. His work has been published in journals including Ballast, Diagram, Gargoyle, Kenyon Review, McSweeney’s, North American Review, Lana Turner, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, Rhino, The Rumpus, Smartish Pace, Swing, Thimble, ZYZZYVA, and many others. He holds a BA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from the University of Florida, and he teaches comp and creative writing at San José State University.