We considered the sun indifferent
till we realized a tan is scar tissue,
melanin pumped out in emergency
to protect us from ignorance. Some wear
hats or carry umbrellas; others bare
chests, partially naked and exposed, folds
and cracks out for the light. Our boat rises
and falls in the tide created by the
level of water let go from the dam,
kayakers at the high elevation
timing their trip with the planned flood release,
the surge they’ll ride a perceptible wave
all the way to this confluence where we
are anchored, where the first outpost in what
has not been wilderness for a long time
is defended under river bottom
as if only a drought could salvage the past.
Sandra Kolankiewicz’s poems have appeared in London Magazine, New World Writing, BlazeVox, Prairie Schooner, Bellingham Review, Gargoyle, Fifth Wednesday, Per Contra, and Adelaide. Turning Inside Out is available from Black Lawrence Press. The Way You Will Go and Lost in Transition can be found at Finishing Line Press.