terence says about the boys nestled
in the mouth of the waterfall

the one boy’s eyes opened to the sky, legs
wrapped around the rock to keep him

alive, afloat, the river running over
him, kissing him just so, his body

an interruption in the water, the rush
and roar of its call partitioned by the fall

dividing it from itself. the other boys
perched around him like water nymphs

staring off beyond the mountains’ dip,
where the sun sets. the boys so landed

they become part of the land, the roots rooting
around their ankles. yes, in their lorded fly

bag, but a lord of the flies before
it gets dark. before they do what they do

to piggy, before the split and hunt. wild,
still. boys who jump from as high

as the trees, into the water cradled
so lovingly by rock, boys who ford

the river in their socks, throwing their shoes
to any soft land willing to catch. the water,

a mother: both healing and scolding, both soft
and gathering pressure at the fall. shallow

enough to walk, deep enough to dive, the boys
know her, where to step

and where to not, how to say hello, when
to let her sleep. their big toes scraping

into the moss, curling to hold them steady, fingernails
finding the hook between roots to anchor, to pull

their bodies upwards. the coquís coquíing their song.
the sun winking its set. everything green; nothing

poisoned. alhamdullilah, to know land
so well, you can play with it. to never second guess

where your foot lands, how to get your body
where it wants to go. to be so fromed, you from.

alhamdullilah, to cradle the fall and not fall.
to hear the river’s rush and feel safety. wild.

the boys. in their lord of the flies bag. yes,
the boys, there, on top of the waterfall. pulling

crumbs of leaves out of each other’s hair. the boys:
wild, but not lost. the boys, wild and belonged.