Well: the Girl Who Falls



1
The girl who falls
can't swim, displaces

the water. What we call weather
is sometimes like this,

around us, and with us
inside everything. Winter.

2
The girl falls,
And a cold place in the ground

displaces fear, but the girl
won't have it. She says to her fear,

"Hurry back with a rope
or some dinner. Hurry back

with your very strong arms."
She waits. Some birds come

to see her and some birds just come
to see. She's lucky. Now

it's spring, so there are fireflies
and the hole doesn't seem so deep.

Her voice, loud in the hollow,
shakes the ground, shakes

a little. How loud it sounds
inside the earth.