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  • Rio Savegre
  • Michael Waters (bio)

Tamarindo Costa Rica

Where the Pacific seized the river, tuggedLimbs then torso toward murkier waters,I turned back, struggled briefly, tore a pathThrough the thousand frayed sienna ribbons.I fought toward scabbed boys jabbering Spanish,waving skinny arms like burnt tindersticks.I'd wanted to cross to the cloistered beachWhere turtles oared ashore to bury eggs.That night I learned what the voices counseled:Where salt and fresh waters tumble and stir,Shark and crocodile sunder together.I was lucky to leave that turbid bath.Now I awaken when church bells worryTo recall my shade taken by current,Riven on the waters' skin, wrenched apartBlack rag by black rag, as the soul is torn,The heart bitten, as I stumble away,Too dumb to know which creatures seethe belowAnd how whitely the body must beckon. [End Page 69]

Michael Waters

Michaels Waters's most recent books include Darling Vulgarity, a finalist for the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Parthenop: New and Selected Poems (2001), both from BOA Editions. He teaches at Monmouth University and in the MFA Program at Drew University.

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