The River Has Many Faces
The river has many
faces, surprising
with the medicine
of its song. Endless
ripples and rhymes,
an oft needed balm.
Meandering at times,
snoozing under willows,
flowing like a fluid ribbon,
appearing to dally, so
deceptive in its motion.
Beware, though, the
taunted river, flush
with a sea load of
rage, bursting at the
seams, a roaring fury
like an angry god
long past placation,
uncontainable in modest
banks, carving canyons,
razing townships, in
a rush to flush it all
and return to the sea.
The cycle starts anew:
so many faces, so many
rivers, so many clouds
blowing in from the coast
covering the sky
with water from the sea.
The River Has Many Faces by Gene Hyde | Sandalwood Poetry Reed Diffuser
Gene Hyde's poetry, essays, and photography have appeared in such publications as Appalachian Journal, San Antonio Review, The Banyan Review, Third Wednesday, Raven's Perch, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Mountains Piled Upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene, and elsewhere. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with his partner and a scruffy little dog.
