Borderline by Steve Klepetar

I stand here just beyond the shadows,

borderline between river and sky.

Borderline between the blazing stars.

I stand here in the place of thirst,

waiting for air to change, for trees

to pull themselves up by the roots.

It seems I have been here a long time,

with my tongue swollen and sweat

dripping down in salty rivulets.

Where is my horse, the good golden one

with the beautiful mane?

Where have I left saddle and bridal and reins?

In which ocean did I drown, or was that a dream

from a night of wind and waves?

I stand here frozen on limestone and clay.

I have been writing this down as the hours pass.

I stand here with patience learned

by a deep, dripping pool. I have been a fish

and an owl. I have sung in the morning like a frog,

and lived in a turtle’s shell for a thousand years.

Nobody could make this up.

All night I called your name, as it passed,

moaning like a dove, beyond the borders of night.





Steve Klepetar lives in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. His work has received several nominations for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. Klepetar is the author of fourteen poetry collections, the most recent of which are A Landscape in Hell (Flutter Press) and Why Glass Shatters (One Sentence Chaps).