James Tate




Sloops in the Bay

The sloops in the bay are talking in a little bottle
language, their laughter
is the most difficult number in the book,

a sweeping, a rolling
like the bilious voyage of sleep—

They are starting to burn
like the yellow leaves at the bottom of a dream.

They can’t sleep now, it would be quite impossible.
Whispering like a garden of secrets.