The river looked so beautiful today,
flowing over stoney fish bed.
Just one more chance for anything to say.
Murk crept, lurked, from the spill near the bay.
Nearly unnoticed, but for quick twitch-swishing head.
The river looked so beautiful today.
Prominent now, downplay. Downplay.
Up-chain swam the twitch, poisoned bread.
Just one more chance for anything to say.
I closed my eyes and shouted to say
how long the water had been in good stead.
The river looked so beautiful today.
How could this happen, how dare they?
Funnels and bucketing out tar-pitched lead.
Just one more chance for anything to say
Cracking walls, drying clay,
empty crevice, prayer said.
The river looked so beautiful today.
Just one more chance for anything to say.
About the Creator
Jessica McGlaughlin
"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
A piece of paper taped to a wall of an elementary school said this, it really resonated with me.
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Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH5 days ago in Critique
Comments (4)
This powerful and moving poem beautifully captures the tragic contrast between the river's beauty and the sorrow of environmental decay
The interplay between serene and corrupted nature in your villanelle creates a haunting, memorable atmosphere that lingers with the reader.
This reads so beautifully vivid. This is a favourite line: "Just one more chance for anything to say."
That's such a fitting title for this poem because the longing as so palpable. So well done!