In Redslinch wood

I am sitting on dead leaves and stones

[Where is Dog?]

I hear birds
chiff-chaff
I hear the stream

The sun shines on my face

The wind blows through the tops of the trees

and on the back of my neck

I watch the water

always the same

always different

like flame

I want to write
but I can't

All my pains cluster around that point

[Dog is barking]

A strip of rusty iron

like a piece of chastity belt

lies on the edge of the stream

one spike up

I will go home

to an empty house

an empty page

That is what I have created for myself

[Dog arrives

and puts her paw on my foot

She radiates heat

Her underside and legs

are dripping grey mud

She is panting]

I stand up

and shoulder my backpack

I am lost

but I step forward

That is all I can do