tiptoeing through brook weeds / cautious to avoid the nettles / she smooths wrinkles in scintillating gold / kneels beside tall grasses & abstractedly / she takes the tender parts between two nails / severing beauty from roots / gathering unruly bunches in the other fist // laughter escapes her throat as she imagines / the lovely wreath of crowflowers // with nimble hands she weaves stem into stem / clasping violets about her neck / plaiting daisies into her locks
she swears the sweeping branches / of the willow whisper his name now / as she mounts hand over foot, hand over foot / she swears she sees him beyond the horizon / just there, just beyond her reach // now she is poised on a mangled arm / of the plaintive giant / & she resolves to leave it an offering / climbing out farther to hang / her blooming belles over the branch / but soon she is tumbling as the frail / sprigs grasp at her to no avail
at last the river’s illusive bed / has captured the girl’s elusive soul / as the rue in her paling fingers / wilts suspended above the water / & her blood flourishes in ethereal clouds / & the flowers she had plucked / tucked at the crook of her neck still / & a crystal tear on a cheek // now the stones sewn to her skirts / are lost among those at the bottom but / only the stones beneath the water’s glinting surface / heard Ophelia whisper she simply could not / go on //