Song of the Paper Boat
by Charles Ardinger

Origami from the epoch
of Norman Rockwell’s freckled boyhood floats
under the streetlight’s yellow circle downstream
between two shadowy corners.
Aboard, we mind the folding
of surface to surface defining our craft against
the hungry water.

Newsprint, wet, becomes transparent
revealing the story on its other side, your current
directing our endeavor downstream, down storm
drains to boundless ocean.

We fold surface to surface to stay afloat.

We flow depth to depth together.

Charles Ardinger graduated with a Master’s Degree from CSUF and currently walks the earth (actually riding a bus) to help anyone who pays him to with writing.