I Know a River

A friend of mine recently told me she had contemplated taking her own life. She shared deeply personal information about her troubled past and it was obvious how much those experiences haunted her still. I was lost for words. Unprepared for this devastating information, and sought words of comfort, but nothing I said in the cold of that moment seemed adequate. Only a day later, while walking with my dog in the winter sunshine, came any clarity. By the time I reached my desk, the words had formed in my mind and tumbled readily onto the page. My poem, I Know a River, is dedicated to that special friend.

I Know a River. Gabriel Hemery, 2022I Know a RiverGabriel HemeryI Know a RiverI know a river, a beautiful riverNurturing life under every rockSustaining others as she flowsTo carry deeds and wondersFor the ocean deepI know a river, a beautiful riverWho rose from the drop of a sphagnum frondGrowing to a glitter over mica and quartzTo play with rowan root and dance the fin-dangoFor the needy ocean deepI know not the river, the beautiful riverWho was wickedly restrainedCrowded by darkness, boiled by bouldersHeld back from her destinyIn cruel ignorance of the ocean deepI know only the river I seeHer waters sweet from chestnut dewWhose serenity carries us onwardAnd hides the struggle underneathFor the needs of the ocean deepI know the river glittering brightWho savours the sea under rising moonBeckoning her waves, swirling yin and yangTo help bury her waters pastAs she heads to the ocean deepI know a beautiful river; she’s a friend of mineThrough the eye of a needle, under towering cragsShe flows unstoppableWeaving a fabric of life and loveTil she reaches the ocean deep

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