: Shiba Onko :
an excerpt by John Witte
Then the youngest gazing
into a porcelain urn astir with koi
fell in and was trapped his friends cried
and tore at their clothes I'm telling this story
for you Leo
swimming alone at night
in the reservoir one of the boys returned
with a stone and hurled it with all his strength
shattering the urn the water broke over him
and the dying boy who cannot be
told apart from the hero
lay gasping saved
