Poverty Point, Louisiana
You know how it is
when you're feeling weightless
and know you're ageless
and are running freely
across a shining grassy field
on a mysterious 3,500-year-old
Native American mounds site
with two big middle-aged dogs
who have adored you
and known you very well
for more dog years
than you've been alive
and a familiar breeze helps
carry you buoyantly along
until you begin outrunning it
and you begin carrying
the wind with you
skimming the shrubby banks
of a curving muddy bayou
mostly content with its course
mostly content with its course
and the mother dog drops
down suddenly into
a hidden eroded spot
landing on matted mud straw
at deep water's flowing edge
and is safe but needs you
to drop down with her
quickly in case of soft mud
and lift her thick body
up over your head
back onto the bank
while daughter dog
peers down excitedly
encouraging you
with her devotion
and neutralizes gravity
in the sudden hole
for a moment
with her will
concerned for
her loved ones
and before you know it
all three of you
are running again
now across a broad field
through horizontal sun waves
that make you happy
that make you happy
with no end in sight
having caught up with
the wind and daring it
to outrace you
because your dogs
are carrying you
far faster than
any wind
could ever blow
and swear you've
could ever blow
and swear you've
been there before
and aren't kidding
when the giant
bird mound comes
into view
Larry Piltz
Indian Cove
July 24, 2010
