East River ©Lauren Helf
August 21, 2020
At Corlears Hook
The tethered dock groans in the upstream tide
and worry lines on the river form and re-form,
reflecting dapples of twilight upward
into a limitless expanse.
The cirrus and cumulus are moving on
but we are still here, runners and cyclists
pounding back and forth alongside this river
on an inexorable slog.
I look both ways,
behind and to the side,
and edge back into the stream.
