by Chris Banks
beginning with a line by Larry Levis
My love and I are inventing a country
without people, or a need for people.
There are no cities and no governments.
Everywhere is blue sky and cold rivers
and enough sunshine to warm ourselves.
We are not old and will never grow old.
No vanity and no arrogance derail our lives
in this country of our creation. That is,
unless my love were to leave me here
in this country where walking across it
I should eventually come to its watery edge
and see it as an island for the first time
knowing she has taken my island from me.
