lake michigan

  

I am standing at the shore of the lake

next to a woman i know i've only met once before

and all I remember is that she had ribbons in her hair
to keep it from blowing across her face

I try to say something to her about how

I wish all these dead fish wouldn't stare at me
like they are staring

but I don't say anything

I just stand there looking at the dead fish
lined up in rows

their rotten bodies all pointing at the shore

I reach towards the woman

to pull the ribbons from her hair

and she moves her head away just as I touch them

She moves away

pulling the ribbons from her hair as she leaves
and then I'm standing at the shore

holding the ribbons in my hands

I throw them into the lake

watching as they twist and sink as the water sinks in

and they wrap themselves around the rows of fish corpses
lined up looking at the shore through their milky eyes

I feel a squirming like worms inside my throat
crawling towards my mouth

I reach in and pull out a ribbon

and throw it on the ground at the shore
as another moves up

and takes its place on my tongue

The woman stands at the shore
away from me down the beach
her hair blowing across her face

and this hand keeps reaching back into my mouth