“I’ve Known Rivers”
–a quotation from Langston Hughes
I am too soft for these rivers, too worn to attempt more
than a float at this juncture of my age and raw nature.
The wild Green River near Saluda is rife with snags.
Relentless eddies trap my tube against deadfalls.
Insects and river rocks puncture my thigh, and spray
transforms my skin to an alien pebbled landscape.
The French Broad in Asheville once flowed shallow,
wide, and warm before the flood. Its ripples invited
meanders under bridges, past cows, my tube tethered
to friends, to the beer cooler, and to roads, rails, cultivation.
I want to wade again in the gentle French Creek
of my Pennsylvania girlhood, catch tadpoles, gather
smooth stones from the river bed, fill my pockets
with their weight so I have something hard to save.
Nancy Martin-Young
Nancy Martin-Young lives in the western NC mountains with a basset hound, a serial killer cat, and the guy who took her to the prom. She writes poetry, romance novels, and short stories and serves on the NC Poetry Society board. Once in a while, her work earns awards.