the Riverbank

 When we pass this part
of river
I think about the internet
video, a fish advert

A man in waders fights a bear

The bear is so good at fighting
it’s funny, you think, that’s not a bear

Can’t remember it fully but the river
here looks just like that,
looks like that world

A pebble bank with one tall tree
looking stern, like he’s about to
cut in at any moment
Now now, none of this,
now friends, now fish,
none of this

Can’t remember what happens
at the end of the fight
who wins, man or bear

Once upon a time my dad said
this is the longest corner in the world
and I
believed him
because I believed
this land
deserved to be noticed
    like I always noticed
deserved to be special
for something