Skinned Knee, Selway Bitterroot

Pinedrops are pretty parasites, as are the Indian pipes, but if torn

From the ground, their waxy white leaves blacken.

You will see this later when you lay them on the dash.

Not villainous, these—just the sick heart finally stopping.

You’ve got a skinned knee, rising up from the springs:

not sure how it happened, as all you did was rest in the water that

flows from a magnum base, braids hotly with the hanging mosses.

The naked old man and his wife with her breasts floating above the pool
said they were appalled by the beauty too, when they heard your little

Noise of disgust at finding a little pink rock housing the fool’s gold.