WADE KEARLEY AT LAKE NAKKI

Wade Kearley

—on the road to mount abu

for Katherine

Overhead a skein of large-winged geese 

plummet from high clouds. They honk gently, 

slide into their reflection on Lake Nakki. 

As shadows cool, I inhale the orchid

evening and reminisce. Your hair tumbled 

in grey curls around my face. We kissed.

You left me at the terminal clutching 

my suitcase on the pavement. We never 

really said goodbye. Now, on the other side

of the planet, 

     other side of a year, I search 

your last gestures in memory, rewind 

your last words for a sign. Was I asleep? 

I realize the geese are all around me. 

They lift white heads, turn dark eyes

towards me and flock to their feet. I freeze,

anxious not to disturb them, and repeat 

a chant I learned in Udaipur: 

Om mani padme hum. The geese

trill softly and push into the lake. 

Moments later they are airborne. I am complete 

and retrace my steps along the pathway back.

Wade Kearley's Narrow Cradle (Breakwater Books, 2020) launches today, in the quiet style of these COVID-19 times. Wade is the author of seven books, including the poetry collections Drawing on Water and Let Me Burn like This, and the travel books The People’s Road and The People’s Road Revisited, based on his 900-kilometer trek along Newfoundland’s abandoned rail line. He lives in St. John’s, NL.