Portrait of a River

Do you know what river I am?

I snake southward, a dying legend

The sea I seek is long dead

I was once wider and deeper

Adorned with willows and white poplars

Many men have died to cross me

Many dreams have fallen victim to the sea

I am cloaked in timeless majesty

I serve only one, a solemn decree

I know the beginning and the end

I long to ascend, though I descend

While I may meander back and forth

My flow is south, but my eyes stare north

As believers stand upon my salty sands

To witness a glimpse of the promise land.

Author's Note

I wrote this for my daughter. It's her middle name. I plan to do a whole series of portraits similar to this one. If only some of these historical places and things could talk...

Reviews

[Anima Inspired]

Wow...way to personify a river! This was spectacularly descriptive, and the imagery is absolutely fantastic. I love the way that you took a historical look at the subject, and wrote perfectly from the perspective of your idea.

Adorned with willows and white poplars
Many men have died to cross me
Many dreams have fell victim to the sea

--great lines!

[Salvatore Buttaci]

Well done. I enjoyed the personification which you did without forcing it.

Sal

[midsummer]

This is my favorite of all your pieces, and I think it's because while there is a nobility to the voice, the language is more accessible. (That said, I love the phrase "Rain King" and want to write about a Rain King now...)

"I was once wider and deeper
Adorned with willows and white poplars"

These lines evoke such a sense of age recalling beauty, an ache that so many women experience. We exchange our youth for freedom, our beauty for wisdom, and that's what I hear the river saying in different words. You probably didn't know you were writing on behalf of middle-aged women everywhere, did you?

"Many dreams have fallen victim to the sea"

Another great evocation of the inescapable ebb and flow which runs through all of our lives.

Write more like this.

Midsummer