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.
****************************
More river poetry here
Poetry, quilting and random comments on life, the universe and everything
I always feel sad when I see old shrunken rivers. (btw: I think you mean feet not feel in stanza 2, line 3).
ReplyDeleteWow, love the dual meaning in this. And "feverish rocks" is just divine.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of Yamuna river which has shrunken and dying.
ReplyDeleteAh! Twitch just said what I was about to say. A good example of how a poem can say more than its words!
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem that uses images to mirror feelings of a time gone by. Well done!
ReplyDeletelife cycle of a river and/or a person, beautifully said Catherine!
ReplyDeleteSo 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.
ReplyDeleteCatherine, you are just so good. And if this was your first poem after your own "drought", well then... it was worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteHi 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.
ReplyDeleteI liked your poem - it's well written and a terrific first one.
ReplyDeleteGreat first poem, it shows real passion. :)
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDelete