River Crossing

River Crossing
Brian Henry

There, where stones populate
 the underneath¹, splay（张开，展开） 
 rain as it blends & stops
 being rain, raises the river,
 water into water, stone
 into soil, too slick to stand
 or walk, too wide to freeze
 or span, to cross you must
 swim, the current a visible
 instance of movement:
 you'd enter the water here &
 if not pulled under
 would emerge so far down-
 stream the crossing'd require
 another journey entirely²,
 on foot, over uncertain terrain³（地形，地势） ,
 over what, through ownership,
 through deed, is called property,
 thus encroachment⁴（侵犯，侵蚀） , thus trespass⁵.
 The mind, though, can cross,
 along with the eye (where it can see).
 The body, my dear, counts for
 so little—nothing, really—here.