With Only a Vague Outline

by Jeff Hardin

[excerpt]

                                                          A single haiku,

let’s assume, could redirect an empire

or set in motion outlandish blessings

or bring a trough of water to stillness thereby

affecting other stillnesses, both animal and human,

and perhaps even thirst itself, a still well

down which one stares

                                               waiting to hear the end of it.

From Poetry Northwest 6:2, Fall & Winter 2011–2012, page 14.