How ably at times, the soul
tacks beyond the usual buoys
tethered in muck—oh,
don’t you long to sail
beyond every eddy,
each riptide that leaves us
awash, in joint unknowing?
Perhaps today we will change
one another in ways
that will matter . . . 10 years,
even 20 years on: Clamber over
the gunwale, believing
He knows these old deck shoes
pinch—too cramped,
for all we’re becoming.
Laurie Klein is the author of the poetry collection Where the Sky Opens (Poeima Poetry Series, Cascade), and an award-winning chapbook, Bodies of Water, Bodies of Flesh. A past recipient of the Thomas Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred, Klein has also been nominated for Pushcart Prizes in poetry and creative nonfiction. She lives in the Inland Northwest.