The River, Once
by Marc Vincenz
once she went to quench
then she went to scrub
now she collects dead toads
grinds them with cornmeal to feed her sows
once she ploughed the land
toiled with her face deep in dark soil
her back burning in hot sun
now she works in the paper mill
making laminated labels for the city
sundays she takes out a boat
not to take in the view or dream
but to gather plastic bags
now she drinks from water bottles
carted here all the way from the city
label reads: pure filtered glacier water
and says it's drawn from a mountain
it reminds her of a spring
at the foot of a sleeping dragon
then she went to scrub
now she collects dead toads
grinds them with cornmeal to feed her sows
once she ploughed the land
toiled with her face deep in dark soil
her back burning in hot sun
now she works in the paper mill
making laminated labels for the city
sundays she takes out a boat
not to take in the view or dream
but to gather plastic bags
now she drinks from water bottles
carted here all the way from the city
label reads: pure filtered glacier water
and says it's drawn from a mountain
it reminds her of a spring
at the foot of a sleeping dragon
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Author's Note
This poem first appeared in Ducts Journal, Issue 25 (Summer 2010). It was also featured in Poets for Living Waters.
Other stories by Marc Vincenz
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Beautiful, stern poem that is a portrait of a woman, perhaps in China. I like it here that there is no punctuation (reminds me of Merwin) and no capital letters. It works.
*
Lovely, yet I see the sadness within, the hopelessness through the hope, the changes. Nice.
Thanks Ann and Susan.
Yes, to this sad, stern (as Ann said) poem. *
Cheers Kathy.
As Ann aptly put it - stern and beautiful, and I, too, because of the sleeping dragon, imagine it is either in China or Japan. Lovely work. *
Great stuff--doesn't let you get off easily and stays in the mind and heart long after the fact.
Took me quite a bit of rumination to find the ending. Thanks, Cherise and Darryl.
Gorgeous!
Liked very much. Closing stanza is absolutely beautiful. *
this poem says so much--sad but true--exact--*
Thanks, Bobbi.
That's the stuff!
Hey Darryl, Howz things?