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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Poetry Thursday: Rivers

This is more or less the first poem I wrote, that is, the first poem I was satisfied with from the first poetry workshop I attended as an adult - I'm not counting poems from my childhood and teenage years. (There was a long gap after that while I played at being a scientist and then a stay at home mother).

We had three prompts which I combined in one poem: "drought", "river" and "ice". Since the Poetry Thursday prompt for this week was "rivers", I thought I would share this one.

Drought

Here where the winter rain
froze in the cracks
and pushed until the rocks
came tumbling down

Here where the spring swollen river
with the strength of young love
swept me off my feet
and I fell into the cold, sharp shock

Here now the river has grown old
lies shrunken in a stony bed
the grasses withered on the banks
and the rocks feverish in the hot sun.

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More river poetry here

13 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

I always feel sad when I see old shrunken rivers. (btw: I think you mean feet not feel in stanza 2, line 3).

mareymercy said...

Wow, love the dual meaning in this. And "feverish rocks" is just divine.

gautami tripathy said...

Reminded me of Yamuna river which has shrunken and dying.

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

Ah! Twitch just said what I was about to say. A good example of how a poem can say more than its words!

Tammy Brierly said...

Wonderful poem that uses images to mirror feelings of a time gone by. Well done!

paris parfait said...

Ah, the river as phases of life - excellent! I really like this poem.

Julie Zaccone Stiller said...

life cycle of a river and/or a person, beautifully said Catherine!

Jim Brock said...

So attenuated, both to the river and to ourselves. Me, I love those dry riverbeds myself, so much life teeming there even amid the decay, because of the decay. This poem reminds me of that resiliency, that right-ness of aging, passing.

chicklegirl said...

Catherine, you are just so good. And if this was your first poem after your own "drought", well then... it was worth the wait.

Clare said...

Hi Catherine! I was really moved by the winter and spring's abundance of water and then how the drought dries the river bed up so completely. Your imagery is so beautiful. And the sense of age is really powerful -- the strength of young love vs. the river grown old.

Anonymous said...

I liked your poem - it's well written and a terrific first one.

Anonymous said...

Great first poem, it shows real passion. :)

S.L. Corsua said...

I most enjoyed the scene in the first stanza -- very vivid (I could almost hear the array of sounds). Very focused, I'd say (effectively portrayed, great for reading aloud). ^_^ Cheers.