Whispers To the River (For Alyssa)

[Sunstone]

Thank you, Alyssa! I'm grateful you love it.

I think for me a river is a metaphor for life, time, process, connection. So, we make rather similar associations, which intrigues me. How did we manage to do that, I wonder?

I know part of the symbolism of rivers for me might come from Heraclitus' observation that, "one cannot step into the same river twice" for it is always changing.

[standing_alone]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

How did we manage to do that, I wonder?

I think that might actually be a common interpretation of rivers metaphorically.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by standing_alone

I think that might actually be a common interpretation of rivers metaphorically.

I suppose your right, O Rainbow Woman! Now that I think of it, I'm sure I've heard the expression, "river of time".

How many "rivers" are there, My Dearest Neice, that make sense as rivers? Is there a :

river of life?
river of love?
river of charity?
river of laughter?
river of song?
river of lust?
river of dust?
river of....?

[standing_alone]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

I suppose your right, O Rainbow Woman! Now that I think of it, I'm sure I've heard the expression, "river of time".

How many "rivers" are there, My Dearest Neice, that make sense as rivers? Is there a :

river of life?
river of love?
river of charity?
river of laughter?
river of song?
river of lust?
river of dust?
river of....?

Exactly. Many things can make sense attached to the river metaphorically.

You know what? All this reminded me of a poem by one of my favorite poets, Langston Hughes:

THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS

By Langston Hughes

I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

[Sunstone]

I grew up in a town near a river called the Sangamon which flows across the muddy belly of Illinois, Alyssa, and is for its size, first or second among the most trecherous rivers in the nation for taking lives. The name is Native American, but the meaning of the word is lost, and maybe that's fitting.

There is a family named the Washingtons, who live in the town right on the bank, so close the folk of the family can dive from their own porch right into the current; and the men in that family for three generations have rescued from the Sangamon over 20 drowning people a piece. But two generations of men in that one family alone have themselves drowned in trying to rescue others.

The most recent was Kevin, who I grew up with, and who was the high school's star athlete in the year we went to the State finals, beating out the big Chicago schools for second place. Kevin was a strong swimmer; so strong, I recall Kevin pulled 23 from the Sangamon before it killed him on his 24th try.

That old river knows how to take a life, Alyssa, and is just as ruthless as a hunter.

[Sunstone]

BTW, thanks for posting the Hughes poem. I love it!

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

When this weariness is broken on the dawn,
I'll go to the river and cry,

And I won't speak a word
But my tears will flow down
To join with the waters flowing by.

Tears are whispers to the river.
Whispers the river knows.
Whispers the world shall hear, my love,
Although you wouldn't think so.

For the river whispers to the ocean,
The ocean whispers to the sky,
The sky whispers to the clouds:

And the clouds whisper to us, my love,
For the times when we must cry.

Ahhhhh, Phil. I love this one the most of all your work so far. I relate to melancholy poems the best and the nature elements are easy to capture vividly in my mind living in the beautiful place I do. This could have been written by me because I've done this very thing on several occasions in my life.

Great job and thanks for sharing......