.
On profusion
of stones
camped
on a gray gravel bar
arising by a creek
low
exposed sand and driftwood
signs of people
Ahgreyeuss Pahn crosses
the heavy morning
noting a presence
which elicits fear
and he hides
joining
others in his fear
They conceal together behind a log
wondering if they are safe
Knowing that the creek
must go somewhere
they follow it
As they parallel its course
the water turns black
and there are pools with
familiar
darkness and goldfish
They come to a place where
a trickle comes
into the creek from the side
over a small but aesthetic
waterfall—
it is Ahgreyeuss Pahn’s
built of his hand
and so he stays here
while the others go on…
…Ahgreyeuss visits a house of young uniformed people
where there are three girls visiting
from Japan…
…he meets them later in a bar
in the smoke
and colored lights
among tables
and glass
by the surly at the counter
They sit
listening to the lottery
Ahgreyeuss has many tickets
but he is not lucky
He looks up from his tickets
and finds
that the third girl
is gone
In his wondering
he listens
and hears a squeaking—
a chair
a door
a boot
perhaps
but not so near
a scream—
he worries
He runs around the block
He searches for her
with a flashlight in dawn
out by the harbor
in the grey and water
hunting the presence
to see if it has taken her
The sky lightens
there is nothing there
but lily pads
He crosses the heavy morning
of the estuary
back to the hills and creek
to the fall
and flooding—
it has rained
and
downstream from the black rocks
left
lying
at the stages
of the flood
are
lines
of dead
goldfish
Ahnjehlia
greets
him
"Still"
she remarks
“In the grey ponds look!
The flood has left
many goldfish
swimming”
.
.
