against boulders

Dear Sophie,

Say hi to Old Mrs. Montgomery for me. Tell her that her cat does not sleep on the upper veranda all day, but roams around with the Siamese next door. And *please* don't stay up all night flashing your messages. It gets annoying. Also, you need your rest. When was the last times you slept in a proper bed?

Are you still throwing salt across the door? And taking rice and oranges to the ancestral shrine? Put some down for me, please.

Go to the grave for me. Put down some flowers--those long white flowers that smell of cinnamon--stocks, I think they are called. Maybe it's stalks. They'll know which ones you mean.

So will you.

Your loving granddaughter.

P.S. Don't forget to water that oak we planted.

the river parts / against boulders / seeking / the fastest / route-- / without maps / to guide her

if there are / other waters / we can not / know them / all we see / in rivers / is their presence


Follow us all: Amy/Anna, Sophie/Yuki, Kit/Richard, minor characters or sift through water leavings and river journeys.