THE ORCHARD WELL

Water drawn from the well
Was cold, he says, and pure,
The orchard's underflow,
Its origin unsure.
Those with art would know
When it would sink or swell.

But chance created the spring.
Someone driving a post
Broke the water free,
The emergence of a ghost,
A clear inconstancy
Hidden in everything.

Nineteen seventeen:
Boys who splashed in the pool,
Ones who are old or dead.
The deep water was cool.
He touches his white head.
...