Astronomy Lake

She came in casting books from her sleeve,
She came in not shivering, casting books
Over the lake’s surface, skipping books
To other shores.
He fell into the room by the lakeside
Upright straight through the crack
In the sky-blue ceiling with his face exposed,
With his face on fire, crackling & smoking.
She stayed through eternity staring
Down past the many reflections cast
Over the water’s surface, staring
Into the many thousand trails it appears
Snails have taken centuries to scrawl.
I am following systematic errors apace
In my human judgment, my human fragility,
My dizzy report. For those who believe
Evil travels in straight lines, for those
Who don’t, who hold tight to good luck
Charms and say their prayers at night,
Not even did a poisonous snake dappled
In sunlight and shade find a straight &
Narrow way to its dinner. Someone says
We’re quick to find patterns where perhaps
There are no patterns to be found.
She withdrew into the wilderness.
She asked him to make up a dozen myths.
He smote his face on the water.
He would not look at her.