Mint Taunt

Small words for the shapes wet takes—
Small words for large shapes—sea, tide—

Small words for small shapes—cut bank,
Ox bow, crick. You learn the large

Not long past birth, if you live
Near sea and tide or not. If

Your folks live far in and fish,
You may learn cut bank and crick.

Ox bows are for books. Now, why
Are small words for small things more

Learned late? You do learn waves young,
Of the sea, your bath, a lake.

And waves, in the long run, sum
Them all, plus you, clouds, the sun,

Times the earth quakes, how light moves,
How space and time curve and shake—

So, waves, too, are small for big.
Here, on a spit of greened stones,

Full of moss and wild mint, June
By the cut bank of a crick,

We line up, us, the small words
For small, and taunt—learn us, quick.