I.

I like the new five dollar bill, she said.
At least Old Abe isn’t folded in half
anymore. He just has to bear the split
across his left temple. Which is, of course,
where he bore it.

Crows,
ravens, and jays are the highest point
on the birds’ geneology tree. They represent
the apex in avian evolution.

The ground drops off before me, rocks winking,
Whispering secret asides of slow time:

     a message of geography and heat
     a warning, fellow-traveler—