Dead Rivers

A Poem by Noah Adair

I made a shrine to a knot in a tree
because it has the features of a dead saint

I call it complete surrender

I hang the earth on nothing
And the memory of you out in empty space

Love will wear out like a garment
After I’ve cried all the waters of the sea
And all the rain from the clouds

They’ll follow the paths of dead rivers
to their end
And cleanse us of their discharge
and the laws against leprosy