Does pollution poison the
flowing over my feet
dangling from my dock?
Sun dashes through muddy waters
green and yellow,
warm like summertime.
Laughter on the neighbours
dock and two lifejacketed children
jump in, their mother hovers.
Catch them she waves
as they float my direction
in the current.
I snag one lifejacket as the
other floats past. The mother gallops
along the riverbank holding her hat.
On the way back she thanks
me, says next time
she’ll tether them.
The children screech as they push each
other off the dock.
Their mother reads a magazine.
Sparkling surface invites me
to be a child
in their family.
Tired children wrapped
in towels
shout when I finally dive.
I’m heading downtown,
floating on the current,
looking at the sky.
Sandra...very nice!!! A lovely, peaceful scene. I would have been so dissapointed if you hadn't also jumped in.
ReplyDeleteA very realistic setting! You momentarily turned a blind eye to the polluted Red River and enjoyed the moment. I can hear you saying, 'Ah, screw it," before you jumped off the dock :-)
ReplyDeleteSandra - I get a mixed message of foreboding - mother being inattentive and children floating out of reach on a polluted river - and pastoral bliss - lazy warm river carrying narrator to childhood delight of a summer afternoon's fun. Great portrait of Red River's dichotomy!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jan - the juxtaposition of the "dangerous" river and the playfulness of the children (and looking into the sky at the end) is great.
ReplyDelete