Lark Apprentice

In the bleak & beautiful country of childhood,
there is a very last nerve

and you can get on it. (Note: it easily tires
& isn't built

for years of withstanding much.)
When a relative died, I developed an earache: high

ringing note in a cathedral of ice.
The operation (mine) was a success. Still,

I think it's prairie, deep in there, some place
you couldn't bear to wander.

(Though I'd hold your hand. We'd bring some snacks
and a cheap, disposable camera.)

When the film was developed, we'd appear
as rising ghosts.