BIG TWO-HEARTED RIVER
(for Kai Chan)
wading
in the heart’s river
between its back and forth
diastolic and systolic flooding
we feel the pull and haul
of the always two-wayness
of everything that breathes
or lies down beating quietly to sleep
two lungs, are we?
one dark and troublesome
(the one on the left
the lung sinister)
one bright and tinkling
on the right
busy with the easeful play
of any drumming heart
do we long
for the soldering together
of our aching sidedness?
or shall we rather exult
in the old bifurcations
that valence the world?
