Volga

There are degraded rivers next to thirsty cities
in this world where if you
chose to pick up a branch
on the enbankment
and if you happened to
penetrate the water with that branch
municipal waste and industrial emissions
will eat that branch away.

And there you will stand holding nothing.

Mother Volga in Russia.

Huai in China

To eat a fish from these wastewaters
would instantaneously lower your IQ
55 points and you may permanently walk
in small circles with noticeable jerks.

This is how I imagine my bloodstream
When I watch it move under the thin skin
Of my wrist.