GHOST AND OAR by Marianne Boruch

Past sixty and pounds over, she
jumped from the boat, suddenly bigger
than her life. Perhaps you were her sister
shocked, who turned away. Because

she stripped off everything, descending--
a goddess, no, a god--in that bright
lagoon where shade made deeper pools,
lake a further noise past those islands.

The truth is, massive and pale, she
lengthened and swam, maybe singing out
something. And why not? I see water so
clear in this story, the grace to do that,

the perfect nerve of any summer afternoon
marked by abandon, years and years
released like a latch: light and leaves,
remember? Too much and so many.

--Marianne Boruch, from Ghost and Oar (Red Dragonfly Press, 2007)

135 copies printed from hand-set Deepdene and American Uncial types. The text paper is Frankfurt Cream and the handmade wraps are from the Twinrocker paper mill. The title page illustration--'Wolf-kill relics from Isle Royale'--is from the hand of Gendron Jensen.

Both the author and the artist have participated in the Artist-in-Residence Program at Isle Royale National Park.