P oetry R epair S hop (1999.07: 081)
- CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL POETRY
- by new, emerging, and established poets

LAIMA SRUOGINIS
Switchbacks

I balance on a bridge of concrete--
narrow and odd out here on the mountain slope.

Beneath me a stream gushes--
so much water here, hot springs, so lush.

At the edge of the stream
lies a doe -- bloated and perfect

killed by her own folly.
She must have lost her balance.

She must have been startled
from up here on the concrete bridge.

No hunter had tracker her down
no dogs or disease.

She had killed herself.

It is the futility of balance--
the impossibility of being.


What DOES the average webcitizen look like?
Poem copyright 1999; all rights reserved. (If you desire a copy of this poem, please contact the AUTHOR).