Red Carp

I. Old koi pond

Still they swim, the light radiant
on their bodies. They bend
into faint commas
un-comma again,
again not resisting the water’s
accustomed flow but forming
it, they enter it and with the ancients’
alchemic knowledge, become gold. Always
they swim, they are swimming through
my life, creating currents.

II. Abstraction

I dream of swimming
with red carp, become,
flash into orangebloom,
sunset brilliant scales

color blown like poppies
on the silk field of a kimono
or like quickflash red slipped
from a painter’s brush

surface-bound by logic
until the crimson blossoms
watery, to seek the place
of colors felt, slippery
or cold or swift.

Robbin Farr is a resident of the Queen Village. After completing her MFA in creative writing, she discovered the bookbinding arts and mastered parallel parking. In addition, she teaches creative writing and American studies to high school students in Montgomery County.

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