r/OCPoetry•3 yr. ago

The River

Poem

The river of anger that flows through my father's

family line has been poisoned long before he or I arrived here.

At some point,

I'm sure the water was clear.

No pollution from spilled liquor

or bottled tears.

He tells me stories of the orange groves he roamed as a child.

It is very hard to imagine him that way,

before the river pulled him from the shore and left him for dead.

I am my father's daughter.

The river beckons me,

as it has always done,

it is hard to resist the urge to dip my feet.

How often my ancestors poisoned words inhabit my tongue,

so bitter they taste while I am knee deep in the current.

Digging my toes into the gravel below,

knowing the river won't slow until it drowns me.

Until I drop my own son into it's waters.

"It runs in the family!" It screams beneath me

as I try to keep him dry, but the river splashes him

from time to time.

I cannot heal these abandoned waters alone,

and it will not be my son's job to heal the wounds of his mother.

So I will build him a boat,

of kind words and spoken feelings.

With no slammed doors or screams of intimidation.

I will drag us to shore,

even if it kills me.

We will pick up litter,

pour so much love into these waters

that we see the fish again.

and over on the other bank,

in the setting sun

I see a little boy,

with a face like mine.

His laughter echoes over the waters that his grandson can swim in without fear.

The river of anger ran through my father's line,

until it go to me.

Posted Nov 28, 2022, 9:14 AM UTC · edited

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