Canal

I can still remember
Stumbling in the dark
Scraping my shin
Against the rusty pipes
As we followed water sounds
Until we reached the river

There is no scar now
Where we washed away
Dark blood that flowed
Into a darker night
Stars jumped in the current
While we sat still and calm

The mark that remains
Is the memory of the ground
How it crawled and flowed
As the sun put an end to night
Revealing a fragile swarm
Of a thousand baby frogs

Our footsteps were clear
Marked by broken bodies
In the dust by the canal