1992, 56 pages
|
River Poems |
| EDITED BY STEPHANIE STRICKLAND & ANNELIESE WAGNER | |
|
1992, 56 pages |
| "The poems in this anthology are testimony to…a force in nature that is at once source and companion, theme and consolation." —John Haines |
Gold
In winter, everything's
yellow
but the willows. The grass goes
gold and the weeds brittle into
smooth yellow stalks; even the river
seems golden. It's murky, in a golden
sort of way that's almost clear,
almost not. Sunlight filters through,
there's a gold rope net rippling in shadow
along the bottom
Before, when all I could
think of
was how poor I was, poverty in currency,
friends, my poor family, my poorer self
I was busy with the worries of the world.
The river doesn't know them;
that's why I come here.
She treats them like a stranger,
the new person in town with slick talk,
a long handshake and the twitch of a smile
that makes you want to keep moving.
The river is golden. There's
always water;
it's long gone and here again, moving
all the while. In a little while
the sun will drop and light
will stream through the trees
across the river, which aren't golden either
but don't know it yet
MICHELE CONNELLY from River Poems