Untilted*

Stock-still over the firmament,
the orb looks about ready
to grant a wish. It sits between
two small waterfalls, catching

the z’s of reason in the hushed
rushing of the silvery water—
a rare near-echo of its color
in the corporal forest, usually

so plainly green. Try to keep
your head up high—your throat
a line, ramrod-straight, for the
orb-colored sword / to go down.

 

*sic

Tom Snarsky teaches mathematics at Malden High School in Malden, Massachusetts, USA.