La Seine a St. Mammes, Alfred Sisley,
1880-81, Muskegon Museum of Art

Wind and water take her away,
so, she can no longer measure
from shore, and her place points
shift as she floats like a rhythm,
keeping her tethered to trauma—
she is unsteady in her boating
excursion; but finally, pulling up
to the pier, she becomes weary
adjusting to differences in motion
and gravity, and leaves the boat,
stepping onto wood like living
in worlds of movement, placement,
no longer holding on to either,
legs giving in at the pier—scraped,
nails, bloody, help coming, bandaged,
infected, healing; years later, beauty
of motion is what she reflects upon
as her gift for walking on water.

Jan Wiezorek writes from Michigan. His work appears, or is forthcoming, in The London Magazine, The Westchester Review, Lucky Jefferson, and Loch Raven Review. He taught writing at St. Augustine College, Chicago, and wrote the ebook Awesome Art Projects That Spark Super Writing (Scholastic, 2011). Wiezorek posts at janwiezorek.substack.com.