Impressions of a River
We walked on a sandbar
stepped where a blue heron stepped
the four lines where its foot fell
pressed into crackles by our weight.
We found warm shallows
where life abounded
mollusks the size of our palms
had pulled themselves across the floor
doodling blind, directionless lines
searching for I do not know what
We found a gar
dried to leather
black as driftwood in the moist sunshine
sunken eyes like leather coins
expressionless, shriveling down
to its primeval skull.
We found wet clay
as deep as our knees
We mired ourselves on purpose
and struggled back out again
Pretending we were dinosaurs
Or maybe the making
of some new fossil
Everything on the riverbank leaves a trace
Every path is printed
That is until
the water rises, falls
and refreshes itself.
Each rainfall rinsing
the palette clean.
Fresh Hell 
Beautiful vivid imagery here!
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Love loved it !! Especially the phrase sunken eyes like leather coins
Awesome
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“refreshes itself” spoke to me – thank you Sarah
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This feels like a river and a walk alongside it, and I especially liked the mollusks “doodling blind, directionless lines”, which took me back to finding snails in my neighborhood creek.
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Sarah,
I loved this. It makes me think about the fact that I recently purchased two pieces of driftwood. It would have been really nice if I could say I found them. Picked them up from a sandy beach or that I found them melting away in the deep woods of some mystical forest. Well, in essence I did find them…just not in nature. I discovered them at the Canton, Texas, First Mondays Trade Days flea market. And yes, I paid good money for these two pieces of driftwood. They’re really cool, though, and they came from under the lake or swamps or a swampy lake north of New Orleans; perhaps they were grazed by gators, snakes and other underwater creatures before the two-legged kind hauled them out of their watery graves to sit on pedestals in my home. I’ve had so many thoughts about where, what and how they came to be…and how they came to me…and where they’ll end up…in a lifetime from now. Anyway, I loved what you wrote. Hugs to you my dear friend! Mona
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