Mary Hastilow
River Blackwater
River Blackwater
strong blood of the earth
she attracts butterflies to the water’s edge
her bogwater skin littered with seeds and feathers
is too rich to touch
too dark and bearded and pungent with musk
from the wine of drowned bodies
collected and stilled in the flask of the valley.
She moves youth to age, age to youth
sluggard mother of rivers
stagnant, exuberant
indolently wise.
We come to plunder the foliage
peel the pith of the rushes
plait and weave reeds
thread grasses, pierce buds
slice stems so they bleed
to make what the river has made of us
until nothing is left
and a leaf dancer turns on a breath of wind
and a bird of paradise
swings on the tips of the rushes
head drooping on burnt sorrel wings.
Page(s) 24
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