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“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER
/ Fault Line

Fault Line

by Andrew Wildermuth

The Californian beach progresses
and threatens our fought-for peace.

Amphibious, auto-inflicted, predicted,
sort of: our certain new sort of water

boarding. Look, I am only asking
you to carry a famously unprecious

thing: be surrogate to the inconceivable
market to which you couldn’t afford be

uninformed. The numbers say we’re
closer now. Seems difficult to prove:

just doesn’t feel right just doesn’t
seem to work in this new economy

we found this morning. I was wooed
by your productivity. Yes, I’d like to

build something. Instead, been
succumb to bucolic

commutes: autumn having turned
the fault line to reds. While shared

infrastructure surely presents its
charms, there are battles waged be

hind heavily armed walls. Some newly
felt form has entreated me starting with

the slow crawl of what is still
a winter. Sometimes I close

a magazine made able by worlds
informed by alchemies

of the country you came from,
you left—  remember this morning,

discarded as ease is attractive & lacks any
notification of its possibly being delayed.

Andrew Wildermuth

About Andrew Wildermuth

Andrew Wildermuth studies North American studies in Erlangen, Germany. His poems have recently appeared in Columbia Journal, EcoTheo Review, and SOFTBLOW. His critical work is forthcoming in Aspeers and ZAA: Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik.

Cold Mountain Review is published once a year in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. Support from Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences enables CMR’s learning and publications program. The views and opinions expressed in CMR do not necessarily reflect those of university trustees, administration, faculty, students, or staff.