in praise of my deadlift

I crouch, knuckles down,
I’m a creature by the river.
Brace-buckled like a crab,
I inhale the running silver.
Through my hands. Grip, rise:
The apprentice in the pillar
Carves bones, columns claws,
Moves muscle with a shiver,
There’s a mountain in the mirror,
There’s a mountain in the mirror.