Kathy Zeisler Goldman: "Father of Waters" & "Water Through Rock"

Kathleen Zeisler Goldman lives in Manhattan Beach, California, with her husband and children. A journalist by training, after her children were born she discovered a new career teaching pre-school. She has also taught creative writing to elementary school children and adults. She is working on a book about the mud and tears of teaching at a progressive, child-oriented nursery school. Her poems have appeared in the anthology, 13 Los Angeles Poets, and in the periodicals, including Northeast, ONTHEBUS, Pearl, Spillway and Myriad.
*****

Father of Waters

The current rolls south,
appearing as ripples
on the dappled surface,
belying the undertow
that drags arms and legs
past the safety of town,
and into deep holes
where fallen tree limbs,
lie in wait for
the outstretched hand,
the seeking foot.
Lungs run out of air.
On the surface, ducks quack,
gulls circle overhead,
and on the tantalizing shore,
a doe and her fawn
nibble shoots of grass.
Poor lost soul.
It is always the young
who swim alone,
the naive who think
the ripples dancing
along the surface
are all that the river contains.
***

Water Through Rock

The quiet that springtime brings
seeps into my bones
by drip and channel
like water always after the path
of least resistance.
I float on calm sweet air.
I can smell the earth in springtime.
Dark fungus, joyous rot.

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