by

Poetry: River

we’ve never formally met
shaking hands, exchanging names
we’re beyond such things
green watered dream river

living within shared bones
—marrow of continuous life
passion tugs weepy core
toward lover’s inevitable embrace

slippery rocks rattle beneath
unsteady, unstable moving feet
liquid kisses, fluid caresses
flowing fast, free, fierce

losing power inside your
deep roaring wild whitecaps
fingers touch fusing together
foaming—equal dance partners

last minute quick turn
freckled face warmed red
singing in sweet harmony
until we meet again

While visiting Oregon last week, I stood on the bank of a beautiful green river and was completely overwhelmed by how familiar it felt. Had I dreamed of this place? Did I visit its rushing waters in another lifetime? I wanted to be within its icy water and feel the power sweep me swiftly away. It called to me. This poem is an attempt at processing this strange and odd feeling. Has this ever happened to you?

54 thoughts on “Poetry: River”

  1. Beautiful imagery! I have had a similar sense of déjà vu in a place I’ve never been; it’s an odd and pleasantly haunting feeling. I think I’m being reminded of a similar location or some memory I can’t quite place.

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    • Thank you for the kind words! It’s such an overwhelming, eerie, and beautiful feeling. I’ve had it along the ocean shore many times, but this was something far more powerful. I’m definitely connected to that wild water in some way.

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    • Nature really does speak to us, doesn’t it? Maybe it feels so magical when we experience moments like this because for the majority of us, we are so removed from daily contact with wild places. Something to think about.

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      • Definitely something to think about! I need more nature in my life. I used to have it. When I was young, my family camped (with a tent and a canoe) at state parks in Kentucky. The rolling landscape here is so beautiful. I moved to Utah in my early twenties, and that state was beautiful, but it wasn’t Kentucky beautiful…if that makes sense. My grandmother had a huge tobacco and cattle farm; The river ran through it in three areas and the dam was next to it (great for fishing, canoeing…skinny dipping…ha!). My Mom, her Dad (Pa), and I always dreamed of building a cabin there, but there was already one house on one of her neighboring farms, so she wouldn’t do it. It is a dream of mine to have one built there and buy back the land that was sold when she died. Sorry if this was TMI; You just seem like a good person to talk to and someone who understands the importance of nature.

  5. That experience HAS happened to me! Is it a half-conscious thought to a childhood memory? A past life? I dunno, but’s it’s weird. You captured the feeling in the poem quite well!

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  6. I love this poem, Bridgette, beautiful imagery. Nature is so powerful.
    I remember living in the midwest and southeast… sometimes it would rain while the sun was still shining, and I’d feel so much joy inside me, like I wanted to float up to the sky because it was so breathtaking.

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  12. Lovely ode to the familiar sense of déjà vu.

    I try to stay in those experiences for as long as possible, but no control!

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    • This was by far the most intense déjà vu moment I’ve ever felt. It wasn’t just that I’d been then before, but I wanted to jump into the water! It was so strange.

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