Reading The Blue Clerk, 111

Cracks in the ground, where dry has nurtured seed, seal when it rains, cradling seed differently.

Reading The Blue Clerk, (pause)

Encounter persists. And wonder.

Reading The Blue Clerk, 110

the rain that is swelling lakes and causing rivers to break

Reading The Blue Clerk, 109

( . . . )

Reading The Blue Clerk, 108

(what lullabies will we sing for murdered children)

Reading The Blue Clerk, 107

And was I tender?

Reading The Blue Clerk, 106

Was it early morning?

Reading The Blue Clerk, 105

Days follow.

Reading The Blue Clerk, 104

A raised bump tells me a mosquito was here.

Reading The Blue Clerk, 103

And the ants come. And stay.