" Seven Days into the Amazon "
It is a love story, Noah says
as the boat moves through the murky water.
After a while, the river grows narrow
and he shuts down the motor,
listens to the lungs of the earth --
breath beneath the cracked ribs of the Andes.
The jungle wakes -- a deep water sponge,
a drenched bird squawking, a yellow
rumped monkey wrung out like a rag
and hung on vines as thick as anacondas.
On deck, the young men lay shirtless; the hot night
mopped up, sated with the wordless speech of water.
It is a love story, Noah says, and
it will swallow you too, if you let it.
© 2004 Nicole Hyde
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