by Tom Snarsky

This is a treatise on the art
of wanting things you cannot have,
whether it’s because someone
else has them & won’t give them up
or because schools of fish
are becoming more and more
selective with time, the bigger pools
of applicants winnowing
slowly enough for them to get away
with certain trickeries––––
like a jut of metal near the stream
still appearing strong & straight
despite having witnessed
years & years & years of rain,
so an accidental deer-nudge
is enough to break it clean
in two and set the rust flakes loose

to brighten the mud. I end up
doing that a lot, breaking things
that aren’t mine––––the trick is
to do it like the deer does it,
not on purpose but just because
you were trying to get a drink
that, whether or not you knew
it, would put gross stuff in your blood
and turn you into a problem.
Cherry trees don’t grow here
natively, they have to be brought in
& can’t be shaded by bigger trees
or buildings. They need deep,
well-draining soil, six hours
of sunlight a day, and if you don’t care
if the fruit is sour that’s really it

Tom Snarsky (@tomsnarsky on Twitter & Instagram) is the author of Threshold, Complete Sentences, Light-Up Swan, & the forthcoming Reclaimed Water. He lives with his wife Kristi and their cats in the mountains of rural northwestern Virginia.