Instructions for the Water Sampling Ritual

In the vast cathedral of the valley:

Green hills, blue sky,

Sun pouring down like honeyed rain

First: to remember the spot,

To find it on the map and, wearing boots,

Checking the pocket watch, clutching the vials-

Labelled precisely, rattling hollow in the back seat-

Walk to the bank, avoiding the brambles,

The stumbles. the gleaming poison ivy leaves

Reaching like innocent hands to stroke my knees.

Wade into the swift stream, slowly, not to slip.

Avoid stagnant pools.

Then, the ritual begins: turn to face upstream.

Uncap the bottle, turn it upside down,

Submerge. Right the bottle underwater.

Silver bubbles emerge, gurgle. The bottle fills. 

Lift it, turn downstream. Empty it.

Repeat this series of actions: once, twice, thrice.

On the fourth fill, keep the sample.

Pour off the excess carefully to the appointed fullness.

Seal the bottle. Shielding it from sunlight,

Pack it in ice. 

Do this in six different spots,

Six quiet streamsides, following fishermen's paths,

Clambering down the riprap,

Breathing the river scent: mud, water, goldenrod.

Cache on ice, sealed and sorted.

Deliver to the vessel that will read the portents,

Tease apart the secrets, the mute evidence

That will answer the question asked of the great river:

Tell us what you know.