The Deity of Calm Waters

.…on a steep slope Pahn has stopped
for lunch
                               April grassy
                    still

It is a picnic with
his family
They wander   about
              the incline    talking of
              family matters

Going to the barbecue
for hamburgers            Daphnis climbs up into the rocks
                                        as is his inclination
                        and Pahn follows him to catch
            him if he falls

But Pahn keeps climbing up
                                                                to the University…

…and down again                                                     
past picnic and family                  down
to the river          in the canyon

He comes out of the woods
            onto a trestle   and crossing
              to the shade   he climbs
           over the creosote
            timbers   down
into the river                     

He swims underwater

his feet crossed like
                                        an otter   upstream in the clear light

While sitting on the silty bank
Djuturna
her chin in her hand smiles
her unending smile and

Pahn finds himself lying beneath her
her knees on either side
of his waist     swishing
             her vulva against him
            to erect his sex

and it rises      when
he holds her face
              and her shoulders
in his hands…

…Again         he is driving with Aiks
The brakes are not adequate
he wonders how such a large vehicle
could have been designed unable
to stop its own momentum

She tells him he must turn right
and he slows down just enough
to avoid rolling over

She says he must turn left now
but there is a line of cars
in the left turn lane

He doesn’t see how
he will be able
                           to stop the car in time

The brakes are only reins of leather
that require all his strength

           to stop before they crash…

.

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