NIGHT CREATURES
under the devious arch of the night
the MBA students are walking at the marshy edges of the
lake with books in their hands
fat books books of promise and regret
long listings of fevers found money bruises good tests
evil tests insults complaints answered money with
no work hair growing where you don't want it
the students are weary of their studies
they look out over the dark mirror of the lake
and long for some reflection of their lives and labor
they listen to the little frogs crying for love
they stand in the mud of the shore and think of the
earth extending herself
under the lake bearing the heavy burden of water without
difficulty
wearing the lake like a hat
they adjust their ties and try to think the thoughts
the earth would have under her hat of water
they no longer burn with wanting and planning and waiting
they are not blown here and there by the greater power
of older men
the books fall from their hands and they feel this is it
the moment has come to abandon their fixed desires
to desire everything all at once
their haunches grow heavy they squat in the mud
this is the night of their true getting and spending
and the arch of the night no longer seems devious
it is an invitation to love and they fall on one another
in a tangle of cries of discovery