The Cosmic Canoe
By Jack Conway

I have portaged this day to night
in ways only my back and bones remember
and will camp tonight
beneath the celestial splendor,
spreading out the maps of my desire
before the fire light
as the river,
like a perfect acrobat
balances along a wall of circumstance.
There are so many worlds to navigate
but I have just this one ultimately
and I do not know if it is the current
or my own paddling that carries me.