This is where Huck and Jim were going to find freedom but never arrived.  This is where I say things like, “It will all look brighter in the morning.”  The anchor I toss on the Kentucky shore disappears under thick mud.  Night closes in, along with the choking stench of paper mills.   The Mississippi is wide and full of baffling vortexes.   Forget maps.  The earth is flat.  The Mississippi flows over the edge of the world.

ancient moon
a strange animal
among the rocks