Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LISLE'S RIVER, by JAMES HARRISON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LISLE'S RIVER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dust followed our car like a dry brown cloud
Last Line: What joy have you had since, that equaled this?
Alternate Author Name(s): Harrison, Jim
Subject(s): Canoes & Canoeing; Happiness; Memory; Rivers; Water; Joy; Delight


Dust followed our car like a dry brown cloud.
At the river we swam, then in the canoe passed
downstream toward Manton; the current carried us
through cedar swamps, hot fields of marsh grass
where deer watched us and the killdeer shrieked.
We were at home in a thing that passes.
And that night, camped on a bluff, we ate eggs
and ham and three small trout; we drank too much
whiskey and pushed a burning stump down the bank -
it cast hurling shadows, leaves silvered and darkened,
the crash and hiss woke up a thousand birds.

Now, tell me, other than lying between some woman's legs,
what joy have you had since, that equaled this?





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net