How to Enter the River

Now the singing of the river is his.
He has opened his eyes and each tree
in its green integrity
bows as he moves past.
Beneath him, around him
the water is a muscle,
a heart of jewels spilled over rock.
He’s forgotten his hand on the paddle,
his arm dips and pulls, guides the boat
to enter the river, unnoticed.

He keeps his back turned
as his children pry effortlessly
through the rapids,
sure of their skill, that they feel
where the boat must go.
Still, there is a sadness
in his straight impassive back,
as if by turning from them,
he insures they will go on
paddling forever, forever his,
here among lighted waters,
flexing, opening around him
in song.

Jeanie Thompson has published three collections of poetry, White for Harvest: New and Selected Poems (River City Publishing, 2001), Witness (Black Belt Press, 1995), and How to Enter the River (Holy Cow! Press, 1985), as well as three chapbooks. Her poems, interviews with writers, and critical articles have appeared in Antaeus, Crazyhorse, Ironwood, North American Review, New England Review, and Southern Review. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, where she was founding editor of Black Warrior Review. Since 1994, she has directed the Alabama Writers’ Forum, a statewide literary arts organization in Montgomery. She is a poetry faculty member in the Brief Residency MFA Writing Program at Spalding University.

Poem reprinted, by permission of author, from White For Harvest, River City Press, 2001.