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Chard deNiord: River
1
tells time to time in a voice that whispers:
lose then find yourself where self begins in emptiness
2
floats a pew in which a bishop paddles
from side to side and a Buddhist fishes
with empty hooks to catch the fish
that feeds on nothing
3
drowns itself in a flood that turns
the towns fields and woods to burial grounds
4
shines from above as a broken mirror
5
winds in silence with a fickle surface
6
deepens to fathoms then back again
7
writes in script: I am the daughter of sky
who sleeps on Earth makes her bed with sheets
that don’t tuck in
8
courses its way through states
as a knife with a blade of water
that cuts a border from north to south
9
begins as a trickle that doubles
and triples until it’s wide with force
on its course to the sea
that salts it then with eternity
““
Chard deNiord is the author of In My Unknowing (Pitt, 2020) and the essay editor at Plume Poetry Journal. He lives in Westminster West, Vermont with his wife, Liz.
Copyright 2024 Chard deNiord
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River with nine movements that sing it the sea of eternity. Beautiful poem!
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I love this poem too. Thanks!
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Love this
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I do too
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Flowing life, from a trickle to eternity. If only we could all take note that the river doesn’t end but that it joins with the ocean. “on its course to the sea / that salts it then with eternity”.
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Yes
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So wonderful these “movements” in the “River symphony!” Its a great thing to have this subject that is so current in our thoughts presented in art to help in our decompression. The Beauty of Chard’s craftsmanship and concepts bring mediation toward our recent disagreeable (and mortal) circumstances with nature. Thankyou!
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This is such a beautiful and magical description of eternity!
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Well-said, Deborah. Thank you.
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Nine liquid flowing & meandering ways to love a river’s journey– just perfect, Chard!
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I absolutely love this poem for its flow from where it whispers, (beginning in emptiness) , courses through nine brilliant images, and widens out to be salted into eternity. A musing chart of the poet’s river for those of us reading from its cutting edges.
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Thanks, Jim. I’ve read this poem half a dozen times with increasing awe.
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And it reminds me of a line from another poem:
“I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river Is a strong brown god – sullen, untamed and intractable.” (T.S. Eliot in the Dry Salvages). Chard’s poem runs parallel to Eliot’s phrase, but the direction Chard has given his river to run, is both more mystical, and less sullen, than Eliot. I guess?
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oh wonderful. each verse an entire poem itself, an entire life thank you for this liquid holy book.
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Thanks, Margo. I love Chard’s poems. He is truly a mystic.
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