imagine: a yearning that lilts in the
fold between sunlight and water's
edge, the magenta ripple unhindered

from view. by the tessellated rice
fields, like platelets, the merchant
rows down a tributary. a herdsman

lays against the base of a tree, lips
pursed over his flute, music greeting
his blithe oxen. the chicken farmer

scatters his feed. pressed into paper
and pastel, the scene plays again
and again, the longing that swells with

every breath. in brazen pink
strokes, a water lily floats on dabs
of blue, pretty for its own sake, its ageless

radiance over an unimagined despair.
his fingers tremble: the crayon wax
is crumbling like ash.