We dig the well
deep under white sands—
not deep enough
to escape the click-click-click
of the geiger counter.
Your desperation is so great
you claim out loud
that coffee and boiling
neutralize excited particles
and half-lives.
We dig the well
deeper than the old ocean bed
and the calcified remains
of animals that pre-existed
dinosaurs.
I pour you a glass
of water so clear
it bridges back to an era
when this land mass
was equatorial.
copyright © 2021 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 