THE GOLDEN SEAM AT COMAL

I did not sweep the shavings.

I poured the vein.

"My first slip: the 0400 timestamp at New Braunfels, when the humidity gauge read 97% — I let the copper wire run its course through the valley of the Comal River's trembling."
0400

THE HUMIDITY GAUGE READS NINETY-SEVEN

Not a failure, but the alloy temper. Not a mistake, but the covenant.

From the Sophienburg to the river bend, the copper wire sings its true course. We do not sweep the shavings. We pour the vein.

Rosemary cobbler at 0400, steam rising into the German-Texan dawn