Where There Is Thirst

I set out water
for the bird
and watch
him choose
the river
to bathe.
Adjacency
is not close
enough to taste
the salt,
witness nothing
but what comes
through the eyes.
I've only so much
hose, not enough
to stretch
the length
of wanting.
I turn the knob,
close off
unwanted flow.

---

Beth Oast Williams’ poetry has appeared in West Texas Literary Review, Wisconsin Review, Glass Mountain, GASHER Journal, Poetry South, Fjords Review, and Rattle's "Poets Respond," among others. Her poems have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Her first chapbook, Riding Horses in the Harbor, was published in 2020.