Watch the earth contract
to this groove in the blue rock
from which water hurtles and air spins out
without curb or bridle

A groove that a twisted rod made
when a prophet struck
instead of speaking
as if the rock would not answer

He carried that groove
unhealed
to the last mountain he would climb
to kneel at the peak

clutching at that earth
while his gaze plunged
down steep slopes
to the promised land

Published with permission from “Icelight”, Wesleyan University Press & Penguin / Hamish Hamilton.

This selection is curated by Yamini Krishnan.