Flow

First published in Blithe Spirit 30:3, August 2020, page 68. Originally written in May and June of 2020.

I travel to the well

as Chiyo-ni once did,

who found the well bucket

entangled with morning glory,

going elsewhere for water.

I have no such discovery.

My well gives no water—at best, inspiration,

a muse for poetry.

When the well bucket is entangled

I too go elsewhere,

into the heart, into books,

into a dinner shared with friends,

the pause of my child to show me a daisy—

and the water flows again

from a new source.

I fear a drying up

of the wells

but invite the entanglements

of morning glory.