******
is a long aqueduct
with no water in it,
a line on a graph
that moves an inch a minute,
a twenty-brick load
sagging in the middle,
on good days, a violin
to play second fiddle,
or a shifting of lines,
a breath of recycled air,
a subtle promotion
from here to there.
David Galef is a professor of English and administrator of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Mississippi. His latest books are the novel How to Cope with Suburban Stress and the co-edited fiction anthology 20 over 40.