Wash Day

described as ramp
though I imagine washboard —
Upper Beamer Falls
is fat with spring run-off

it’s a scramble down
muddy slope to dolomite,
then hop-scotch to
the water’s edge

a slow shutter speed
transforms the flow
into thick, lazy milk
and doesn’t record what

I touched — something
to bring on this leprosy
infecting my hands —
this immune system malaise