Gary LeBel

Taki

When I reach inside
it reaches back:
          the waterfall

The large brownish snail extends its horns, tracing circles in the misty air.
 
The little girl reaches out bravely to let it pass from my hand onto hers:
 
as she leans in closer, the snail’s cold, moist tickle delights her with a sense running deeper than touch,
 
for what passes between them now
 
is breath
 
and a few hundred million years

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Notes:

Taki: 滝 waterfall

Image: Ányte’s Spring (montage/collage ) by Gary LeBel.

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About the Author

Gary LeBel is an artist-poet living in the greater Atlanta area whose poems have appeared in journals throughout the USA, the UK, Japan, and India. He believes that art, or anything else worth doing, is a life-long pilgrimage.

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