oak shaded and pine needled,
free raptor of claw,
iridescent crawdads jet through hairy algae
a school of madtoms futz around in tea-brown decay
while a darter trio—two stippled and an orangethroat—
plot a run against the pumpkinseeds
lolling at the edge of the sapphire seep
a sculpin, the ancient old man, impatient
with the bluegill and shiner gossip
scuttles rock to rock
settles on the snapper’s back
an eye moves with the sculpin
as it hovers up off the shell
and glides toward a stick-tip of a nose
