where the river swallows by Carissa Dewey Where the river swallows my neighbor’s yard I stand honest barefoot. staring at the stale log swallowed in algae sitting silently in the shallow water a tarnished nail leaping from its girth, I stand quiet. Unexpectedly, I feel some weight I see some saturated body- curling collapsing soon throbbing at my feet. The creature rupturing the surface seeking to speak sending splinters of log across my face. And as I reel in I mutter thoughts of Abel and shun my face from the expiring sun. 12/17/2007 Posted on 12/18/2007 Copyright © 2024 Carissa Dewey Member Comments on this Poem Posted by Michelle Angelini on 12/19/07 at 07:32 PM The thought I got when reading this is that "the creature" is actually the self, unable to deal with some past action. I had to look up Abel - he was the good brother, who Cain killed, so the narrator might even be Cain. Excellent work with the underlying theme of guilt. ~Chelle~ Posted by Jim Benz on 03/20/08 at 07:35 PM This is captivating. I can't really speculate on the symbolism of all your imagery or words, like Chelle has, but it seems to convey a private emotion, or event, expressed in a detailed, but surrealistic, form. I don't know. Something comes across, I just can't say what it is (nor do I need to.) Very haunting. Posted by Jo Halliday on 07/16/09 at 02:56 AM Three people getting the same idea! My first reaction was it hid a guilt over a past inaction, then it extended to maybe extrapolation of someone else's guilt. Interestingly, it feels so much a sickening guilt over inaction, rather than action. Return to the Previous Page   pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online All works Copyright © 2024 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)