: Bike Ride with Hokusai Ending :

No stylized

moonlit bath,

no high white

backdrop

cloud parade,

no more

bouquets,

occasions for

Dearest

or breezy XXs,

arguments

for the sake of it,

form

for its own sake,

but a drive down the center

of things as they are,

right now,

fast bike through a puddle,

the word wake and the parting,

the parting, the parting,

dry spot in the center dry

just for a second -

and there,

perfect stillness

before the waves

to either side arc up,

curl, catch, oh to be

woodcut and held

by someone

inclined

to embellish those curves.