Kálo Neró (Good Water)
Down the steps to the beach,
nice view, you snap, I opt
to remember. The stones
hanging from the top of the cave
will come down, someday,
a sign warns us. Their wetness
may not come across in a photo;
one may not tell from the still
how the water proceeds into the cave.
Spanakopita devoured, should I go in-
to the water? Old admonition
about cramping, enters my brain,
comes unbidden. As does a thought
I struggled earlier to remember:
that my dear friends’ deaths
have brought me nearer to them.
They are with me more often.
Out of the water comes a man
we didn’t know was there.
Everyone is interested in his fish.
Ivars Balkits’ poems and prose have been most recently published in Anvil Tongue Radio, Harpy Hybrid Review, and Lotus Eater. He is a recipient of two Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, for poetry in 1999 and creative nonfiction in 2014.
See more of his work in 10.3