Once it was a common term and
A term of art at once
Meaning both a simple pair and
A mark of river’s depth.
Then it was a famed name
Denoting almost everything about
This place we share with all
Its backwards forecastings, became
The central sideways means for
Our conveyances. Another came
Hammering down, pinging
The sidelong in echoes.
Then there was only
The air for the fire
Told from a tolling bellows.
Now we can see
The men claiming character
Rushed like wine from a jug
Only to drink in the contents
But though continentals became
Incontinent, peeling
Peals off of symbolic cymbals
Tyrannical grip on thirsty
River banks left foundries
Defunct and defunded.
So now the term sits on
Anachronistic shelf
Invisible air’s earthen urn.
The question then comes with
The shadow-cast key if
The vessel lies behind the door or
Behind the one who the man gave
The key to, and what
Tethering lies in store.