Steel Brace
A Poem
Intrigued by the fluid mess of this valley
you carried on; finding only
unmapped paths swallowed by sullen creeks
then bursting into marvelous patches of bush
So under the stars we continue
to brace ourselves, lean on something solid steel
the trace left by the compass over breasts
similar on your skin and on mine
the companionable tattoos of wanting to be lost
wherever you go; the tent resists all support
in the prairie destruction, second only to fire
the wind descends in its wall of wailing wishes
taking the remains of frailed earth
towards yet more ditches, stopping, occasionally
at little knolls, humped figures that no longer bleed
Fortifying a sense of direction, or just choosing
the place we started from, this uncertainty
cuts at the tendons that step you away from this
hole we were about to claim as ours
but the notion of lostness dogs you, sees you
succumb to the wolves, something edible
eating something else. Tough. Sinews, bleh
there’s pockets of food to avoid this situation
there’s matches in there somewhere
but each step is towards something raw
J.D. Harms 2020
