River Poems
The Mississippi River Empties Into The Gulf
by Lucille Clifton
and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,
none of them emptying anything,
all of them carrying yesterday
forever on their white tipped backs,
all of them dragging forward tomorrow.
it is the great circulation
of the earth's body, like the blood
of the gods, this river in which the past
is always flowing. every water
is the same water coming round.
......
The Newcomer
by Brian Patten
'There's something new in the river,'
The fish said as it swam.
'It's got no scales, no fins and no gills,
And ignores the impassable dam.'
'There's something new in the trees.'
I heard a bloated thrush sing.
'It's got no beak, no claws, and no feathers,
And not even the ghost of a wing.'
......
The River
by Sara Teasdale
I came from the sunny valleys
And sought for the open sea,
For I thought in its gray expanses
My peace would come to me.
I came at last to the ocean
And found it wild and black,
And I cried to the windless valleys,
"Be kind and take me back!"
......
1914 V: The Soldier
by Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
......
The Meaning Of Existence
by Les Murray
Everything except language
knows the meaning of existence.
Trees, planets, rivers, time
know nothing else. They express it
moment by moment as the universe.
Even this fool of a body
lives it in part, and would
have full dignity within it
but for the ignorant freedom
......
A Prayer To The Goddess, Ganga
by Pijush Biswas
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy arms
The earthly life, scornful, is always proud of thy touch
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy divine alms
O thou, let the life be full of joy and happiness much.
Thou, look into our eyes; somewhere thou must be.
Now, our lives today are so uplifted anew by thy privacy
Or, into the core of our lives we seek thy eternity,
Open eyed, to manure lives, or to be heir to thy legacy.
Let us seek beauty in thee, O! let us be free from obscurity.
......
The Measureless Motion
by Somali Mukherjee
The river flows on,
Though there are murky forests
On its either side.
Bojana
by Nastasimir Franović
Ljepotice , jezerska lakomice.
Ime djevojačko ko ti dade?
Podno Skadra grada golubice.
Ti što tečeš smjerna dolje đe,
s mašćela robu peru Skadranke đevojke.
Vodom tvojom da ubijele ruho nevjestinsko.
Za ruku se s bratom Drimom držiš.
Što se zadihao od dugoga puta.
Na more se s njime spremaš poći.
Dolinom ćeš šetajuć' polako.
......
Various Natural Scenes
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
Soaring Amidst Song
sudden chance meeting
of a cheetah and monkey
then green treetop flight
Happenstance
zebra on the plain
......
Tardy Bliss
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
it's the golden hour
young duck swimming afternoon
hard rain patters down
the sun yet shines on
duck revelry in late bath
green river frolic
drought endured so long
but blooms and smiles are coming
......
