During Restless Sleep a Scene of Remarkable Stillness
       

On the far side of a river,
holly lines the riverbank.
The leaves are lacquered tiles.

In the distance, along the horizon,
giant cypresses, all indigo, link
their lower limbs.

Between, a field of grass
rolls unbroken
in suspended waves.

The pond, or lake—too still
to be a river—is a better blue
than the unmarked sky.

Within its deep painterly glow
the holly hangs in amethyst clusters,
and it brims.

Nothing moves. No breeze
touches a branch or leaf
or plays over the meadow.

Lake, brush, grass, and trees
hold their line and color
under the sun's probing light.

Nothing stirs in the hidden depths
to make the water ripple, or spill
beyond its borders into the land.

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Copyright © 2017 David Hathwell All rights reserved
from Between Dog and Wolf
David Robert Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission