the sadness a man and a woman can build up between them is enormous
like those two birds pecking at each other on that branch
and enormous with the rains seen in its face
is the tree itself out there in the sun

will it or won't it rain?  will those
same little birds sing?  will the enormous
sadness welling up growing like a lake or a sea
between a man and a woman go on and on?

will sadness fly from tree to tree?
like footsteps all alone in a room?
like coral through the air?
like planks like bridges lonely and no longer loved?

a twig has dropped into the lake and sails out
the sadness a man and a woman can build up between them is                               enormous
like the little twig's sailing across the lake
soaked to the bone with its own courage