Aria Poem by robert dickerson

Bolt upright, plying his lanky frame
and fled by panicky fishes and frogs
Death poles his coffin boat by night
along the shores of an immense lake;
staring at the stars, even Death
is impressed by their numbers

along the shores of an immense lake
the water is black, fretted
with little waves and pointed
with faint light; drowsy reeds whisper-
scrape along the gunwales, the
up-churned muck has the warm, sweet smell

of an immense lake and Death is singing,
singing an aria about Death
singing an aria by night
in a shallow boat, on a Patagonian lake.
'So many stars', sings Death in the song,
'So many stars'.