Water Divination for Beginners
brown water churns under the iron bridge at the edge of town, muddy
and unaccountable: a fish mouth gapes: a greasy slick flashes rainbowthis river’s man-channeled, trapped between sparse banks, between
smeared brick walls: the churn’s a creature, febrile in captivitystick people pause on the bridge and look down: they see themselves
reflected in each tangle of branches, in each floating huddle of trashunder the bridge, a faceless child stands on a narrow ledge: a life-
raft drifts by, oarless: echoes of persistent rain: a fiery sky, deflectedthe child squats, froglike, reaching: their fingers drift through rainbow
trash until one hooked finger finds the gaping fish, hauls it on land.
Water Divination for Beginners by Jude Marr | Sandalwood Poetry Reed Diffuser
Jude Marr is a Pushcart-nominated trans poet, and an editor with Animal Heart Press. His poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies and his next book, Silence Will Not Save Us, should see daylight in 2027. He now lives in Coimbra, Portugal.
