13 uneven lines about sex

you always see this sort of miracle
in national geographic -

a waist of plateau that girdles
the narrow river where peoples gods are living.

the photographers
come for the spawning,

later, they will drink domestic beer
and buy stiff drinks for thin women.

sleep comes instinctively
to the end of a tangling need,

where men bat empty eyelids
like the cold and desperate mind
of a million thirsty salmon.

james madison walker

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