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.
......
A Timbered Choir
by Wendell Berry
Even while I dreamed I prayed that what I saw was only fear and no foretelling,
for I saw the last known landscape destroyed for the sake
of the objective, the soil bludgeoned, the rock blasted.
Those who had wanted to go home would never get there now.
I visited the offices where for the sake of the objective the planners planned
at blank desks set in rows. I visited the loud factories
where the machines were made that would drive ever forward
toward the objective. I saw the forest reduced to stumps and gullies; I saw
the poisoned river, the mountain cast into the valley;
......
Away, Melancholy
by Stevie Smith
Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go.
Are not the trees green,
The earth as green?
Does not the wind blow,
Fire leap and the rivers flow?
Away melancholy.
The ant is busy
......
Clancy Of The Overflow
by Banjo Paterson
I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just 'on spec', addressed as follows, 'Clancy, of The Overflow'.
And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
'Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'
In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
......
Night
by William Blake
The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower,
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.
Farewell, green fields and happy groves,
......
A Song of Resilience
by Ayatullah Nurjati
In mountains high and rivers wide,
Nature speaks, no truth to hide.
It bends, it breaks, but it endures,
Through storms and rains, its heart secure.
Look to the earth, O soul of mine,
In its resilience, God’s grace shines.
A life of trials, yet peace it brings,
Nature whispers the wisdom of kings.
......
Love: Uniting Grace
by Ayatullah Nurjati
Love is the light of the Almighty,
Rising softly in the heart, greeting the soul,
Flowing like a river in the valley of life,
Bringing hope to life amidst despair.
It is present without form, but felt,
Erasing wounds, stringing together hopes,
Uniting souls that were once separated,
In the arms of love that never tires.
......
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.
......
