lost wisdom

i got close enough to the river that i couldn't hear the trucks
but not close enough to stop the roaring of my mind
these rocks don't care if i live or die
everyone i know will finally turn away
i will confuse and disinterest all posterity
lost wisdom
is a quiet echo
lost wisdom
by the edge of the stream at dusk
is a quiet echo on loud wind

with one hand in the water running cold and clear
fog obliterates the morning and i don't know where i am
the heart is pounding and you are always on my mind
lost wisdom
is a quiet echo
lost wisdom
a boulder under the house
i used to know you
now i don't

the screaming wind said my name
i think significant and dark
my lost face in the mirror at the gas station
who are you but my face that i wake up with alone
lost wisdom
approaching shape in the low light

you thought you knew me
you thought our house was home
i thought i knew myself
i thought my heart was calm
thunder lightning
tidal wave
the wind blew down the door
lost wisdom
the river goes through the room

i saw your picture out of nowhere
and forgot what i was doing
everything vanished in your eclipse
a constellation of moments comes to life in the void
lost wisdom
face down under the moss
enraptured by the beautiful face in the billowing flames
i open the front and back door and let the wind blow through
and i stood in the house and tried to hold the breeze
lost wisdom
waking up in a pile of ash
secret knowledge
comes to me in the dusk
showed me the river
i saw me

Phil Elvrum