for Kristi


The smoke grows, & it gets harder
to see past. In the dream I am wearing

your ring on my right hand, only now
it’s inscribed with something, one

word
too small to see. It is getting darker

crows are having whole conversations
& I’m following you

who lead me
from just ahead

a phone light on the mountainside

---

Author’s note: Spinoza had a ring inscribed with one word, a constant reminder to himself that can be rendered in English as this poem’s title.

Tom Snarsky is the author of Light-Up Swan and Reclaimed Water, both from Ornithopter Press. His new book A Letter From The Mountain & Other Poems is forthcoming from Animal Heart Press in 2025.