"Across the Water," "Laughing," and "Drift"

Across the Water

steps across the water
that is no longer blessed
to enter the dark and foreboding
where the whispers become real
and there is no longer
a place to dream

Laughing

they laugh at the cook
because he is not a bear
and at the priest
because he is not a tree
they laugh at the dawn
because it arrives too late
and at the sea
because it cannot be described
they understand that adjectives
are the wrong kind of solution
and that the verbs will only arrive
once it is too late
each man who enters
an exception to the rule of pairs

Drift

one hesitates
to use the words
they were given
 
in their place
the buildings
grow larger
 
and the masks
the cattle wore
are removed