Rivered Directions

This place is magic -
the silt already knows
settles down
as if there were no dangers here
and the fish won't swim upstream
to flex their flecked black tails,
and the dragonflies don't mate
or rest upon a palm,
that the chaos of horseflies
don't hammer at thighs,
and the wings of damselflies
don't shine a seasick,
sun-blasting blue,
the frogs aren't afronted
by fat footprints,
the algae doesn't convince us
to scale as brash lizards,
the shade of a tree
isn't godly and obscene
-ly green,
that this body doesn't call
for the cold,
I fold
into this place that is a spell,
let it manage my human expectation,
the intensity I feel everyday,
dissolve those hours down
to small pebblestones,
let it go
and land
somewhere to the left
downstream.