THE SCARS ON MY TOES

THE SCARS ON MY TOES

The scars 

on my toes of childhood, they dwell, 

remembering hot summer, 

swimming hole days, bathed 

in liquid green of algae and cattails.

Willows and alder perched upon rocks, 

alizarin roots, and threads of garnet 

in the cracks, naked, 

nut brown bodies with skin of green water, 

became like the wise frogs basking 

on log islands, 

and the minnows nibbled at our toes.

No date circa 1978