River Crossing

　　Brian Henry

　　There, where stones populate

　　the underneath, splay(張開(kāi)，展開(kāi))

　　rain as it blends & stops

　　being rain, raises the river,

　　water into water, stone

　　into soil, too slick to stand

　　or walk, too wide to freeze

　　or span, to cross you must

　　swim, the current a visible

　　instance of movement:

　　you'd enter the water here &

　　if not pulled under

　　would emerge so far down-

　　stream the crossing'd require

　　another journey entirely,

　　on foot, over uncertain terrain(地形，地勢(shì)) ,

　　over what, through ownership,

　　through deed, is called property,

　　thus encroachment(侵犯，侵蝕) , thus trespass.

　　The mind, though, can cross,

　　along with the eye (where it can see).

　　The body, my dear, counts for

　　so little—nothing, really—here.