River Poems
The Mississippi River Empties Into The Gulf
by Lucille Clifton
and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,
none of them emptying anything,
all of them carrying yesterday
forever on their white tipped backs,
all of them dragging forward tomorrow.
it is the great circulation
of the earth's body, like the blood
of the gods, this river in which the past
is always flowing. every water
is the same water coming round.
......
Away, Melancholy
by Stevie Smith
Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go.
Are not the trees green,
The earth as green?
Does not the wind blow,
Fire leap and the rivers flow?
Away melancholy.
The ant is busy
......
Corn Grinders
by Sarojini Naidu
O little mouse, why dost thou cry
While merry stars laugh in the sky?
Alas! alas! my lord is dead!
Ah, who will ease my bitter pain?
He went to seek a millet-grain
In the rich farmer's granary shed;
They caught him in a baited snare,
And slew my lover unaware:
Alas! alas! my lord is dead.
O little deer, why dost thou moan,
......
1914 V: The Soldier
by Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
......
The Dream Of Wearing Shorts Forever
by Les Murray
To go home and wear shorts forever
in the enormous paddocks, in that warm climate,
adding a sweater when winter soaks the grass,
to camp out along the river bends
for good, wearing shorts, with a pocketknife,
a fishing line and matches,
or there where the hills are all down, below the plain,
to sit around in shorts at evening
......
A Song of Resilience
by Ayatullah Nurjati
In mountains high and rivers wide,
Nature speaks, no truth to hide.
It bends, it breaks, but it endures,
Through storms and rains, its heart secure.
Look to the earth, O soul of mine,
In its resilience, God’s grace shines.
A life of trials, yet peace it brings,
Nature whispers the wisdom of kings.
......
Love: Uniting Grace
by Ayatullah Nurjati
Love is the light of the Almighty,
Rising softly in the heart, greeting the soul,
Flowing like a river in the valley of life,
Bringing hope to life amidst despair.
It is present without form, but felt,
Erasing wounds, stringing together hopes,
Uniting souls that were once separated,
In the arms of love that never tires.
......
A Prayer To The Goddess, Ganga
by Pijush Biswas
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy arms
The earthly life, scornful, is always proud of thy touch
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy divine alms
O thou, let the life be full of joy and happiness much.
Thou, look into our eyes; somewhere thou must be.
Now, our lives today are so uplifted anew by thy privacy
Or, into the core of our lives we seek thy eternity,
Open eyed, to manure lives, or to be heir to thy legacy.
Let us seek beauty in thee, O! let us be free from obscurity.
......
The Measureless Motion
by Somali Mukherjee
The river flows on,
Though there are murky forests
On its either side.
Bojana
by Nastasimir Franović
Ljepotice , jezerska lakomice.
Ime djevojačko ko ti dade?
Podno Skadra grada golubice.
Ti što tečeš smjerna dolje đe,
s mašćela robu peru Skadranke đevojke.
Vodom tvojom da ubijele ruho nevjestinsko.
Za ruku se s bratom Drimom držiš.
Što se zadihao od dugoga puta.
Na more se s njime spremaš poći.
Dolinom ćeš šetajuć' polako.
......
