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Northfield, Minnesota,
a flood warning issued at 3 a.m. comes too late for her.
Caught on the wrong side of the river,
alone, unhappy on high ground
she lays down her book The Sixth Extinction,
its glittering story of glittering skeletons
has become too prophetic in this deluge.
All around, people on high ground
fine tune satellite dishes
to catch the latest pictures
of their neighbors stunned faces
as yet another dike gives way,
one more street goes dark,
another dead dog washes up on the lawn.
As the river reclaims its ancient banks,
renews its title to the land
she goes down to bathe in its soft brown hands.
She can remember the morning.
She can remember the evening.
She can remember her neighbor’s dog barking.
She is too young to remember the dry days
of high spring when birds on scarlet wings
flew low under a terrible blaze of stars.
She is old enough to understand the river’s life,
its single unrelenting purpose – return to the sea;
to understand we cannot live like a river.
richardlowellbryant said:
We cannot live like a river and does the river also remind us that something’s wrong when we live less and less like each other? Thank you Ron. This helps my thinking this afternoon. Richard
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Ronald E. Shields said:
Thank you very much for reading this Richard…your comment makes my day.
Ron
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willow1945 said:
This is beautifully written, evocative, the last six lines a powerful climax.
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Ronald E. Shields said:
Thank you very much for reading it…I appreciate your comment.
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K. A. Brace said:
Reblogged this on The Mirror Obscura and commented:
One of the marks of a good poem (excellent in this case) is that one finishes reading it the first time and has unconciously commited it to memory thinking tha=ere coiuld be no other word added or taken away from it. >KB
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interopia said:
I agree but I think in this case the word “glittering” could have been used just once…a story of glittering skeletons
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Ronald E. Shields said:
I realize it goes against convention and though I like the sound of the repeated word your suggestion makes sense. I do appreciate your taking the time to read the poem and I am especially grateful for your suggestion. I will keep it in the front of my mind as I look for ways to improve the poem.
~Ron
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ygm17 said:
evocative and made more powerful by your use of repetition. Wonderful! ⭐
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Ronald E. Shields said:
Thank you Yolanda…I am loving the stars. 🙂
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ygm17 said:
I’m sticking with one star for all your five star poems 🙂 otherwise it may seem weird, tacky? dunno (how do you shrug in confusion in emoticons)?
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Ronald E. Shields said:
Not sure how…but I know what you mean.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQXKU6q3BhRtstbCdA_ets61C61UmRUK8NRo0m68DrcnZpbz6ZvbP_Jy7oN
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ladynyo said:
I agree…this immediately grabbed me…. haunting poem indeed.
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Ronald E. Shields said:
Thank you for reading it and leaving the comment…much appreciated.
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wordsthatscream said:
Your imagery is just wonderful. ‘Scarlet wings’ and ‘a terrible blaze of stars’ – really vibrant writing!
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Ronald E. Shields said:
thank you for reading and commenting…I do appreciate it.
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