On the warm July river
head back

upside down river
for a roof

slowly paddling
towards an estuary between trees

there's a dog
learning to swim near me
friends on shore

my head
dips
back to the eyebrow
I'm the prow
on an ancient vessel,
this afternoon
I'm going down to Peru
soul between my teeth

a blue heron
with its awkward
broken backed flap
upside down

one of us is wrong

he
his blue grey thud
thinking he knows
the blue way
out of here

or me

Added: Feb 20 2003 | Viewed: 1122 times | Comments (0)

Poet: Michael Ondaatje
Poem: (Inner Tube)
Volume: The Cinnamon Peeler
Year: Published/Written in 1997
Poem of the Day on:
Apr 16 2008
There are no comments for this poem. Why not be the first one to post something about it?

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, (Inner Tube), has not yet been commented on. You can click here to be the first to post a comment about it. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Michael Ondaatje with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!