Stranger

you are a stranger-

and we stand deep in this river
in nature’s silence, our
fly rods at work.
an old train bed- following
each curve, each long stretch of
river,
has led us and I’ve followed.
The water here is slower. Dark birds skim
the still surface and we scan - for rising fish.

Beyond these hills, these open fields-
thunder breaks.
you mention it’s still far off.

and it’s the damp air or the cool river passing
between my legs that warrants my feelings.
I want to jump to you, touch you
and let you carry me out-
but I don’t know you. you must be a stranger.