The pebble

one doesn’t just peer into a depth

and though curiosity tilts the head
into the darkness
we don’t get to see the bottom
or if instead of bottom there’s mud
or if in the mud a silent beast slips away

that’s why we toss a pebble

sometimes we soon hear
the bottom
perhaps we’ll return later
with different eyes, different ears
—for we never peer into the same well with the same stone—
and the bottom will give off the same echo
at the same hour

but other times the pebble falls

the pebble falls
    and falls
        and we hear no
ground
it falls and we hear bottom, but really it’s a false ceiling that
breaks
and then it falls
        and falls
and again we listen

these wells are my favorites

they sink into their cracks and into themselves
and then there’s no sunset
no guilt
no turning back

it’s a painful fall

without echo

and without return

if we toss a pebble into these wells
the pebble falls
    and falls
even after the well
has disappeared
into the brush.