Come to me, river

[asakiyume]

The land is very low down on Aqua Vitae road, where they have the ancient narrow fields. Give the Connecticut River a chance, and it will flood them, and the road will close, as it has the past week. I went and took pictures, and nudged by a friend, I wrote a poem.

road closed





come to me, river
come
you have covered the fields
wrapped yourself around standing trees
crept up this old road
come closer
here I stand, like a tree
wrap around me
press your body against mine
let us be heart to heart, cheek to cheek
come!
take my breath away

Comments

[csecooney.com]

Hallo! You did it!!! You wrote this beautiful poem! The beginning of your entry was also so beautiful I thought that IT was the poem!

[asakiyume]

Hahaha--you're the best, Claire ^_^ Love you! Thank you for the suggestion!

[missroserose]

I should've guessed you were behind something so beauty- and terror-filled. ;)

[queenoftheskies]

I can feel your poem. It's beautiful.

These flood pictures look so different from most flooding pictures. These look so natural and peaceful.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! Yes, as flooding goes, this is singularly nondestructive.

[queenoftheskies]

When I was little, my grandfather had a farm. The Harpeth River flowed along the property lines. Whenever there was a particularly heavy rainy season, it flooded his bottom land. Stayed that way for days.

It was beautiful and non-destructive. All he had to do was move the cattle and horses to a higher pasture.

And everything was more fertile once the waters receded because it left behind river bed silt.

[asakiyume]

Yes!! That's what this is like!

[marycatelli]

The flood plains can take a lot. Every work day I drive past fields and forests all in full flood.

[asakiyume]

Yes! I like the thought that the Connecticut is like the Nile--and maybe the fields it's covering right now are getting fertile silt.

[marycatelli]

Of course, it's also tidal as the Nile is not.

We get more of that down here.

[missroserose]

oh my. This is intimate and haunting.

[asakiyume]

Thank you--that is exactly what I wanted it to be

[sovay]

The land is very low down on Aqua Vitae road, where they have the ancient narrow fields.

I totally missed that you have ancient fields on a road called Aqua Vitae! That's wonderful. So is the poem.

[asakiyume]

Now I'm thinking I need to go back and see if the road was always called that--even my old entry may say (shows you how much I remember without aids...)

--and thank you

[asakiyume]

Holy Moly, the name is old. That portion of land has been called Aquavitae since prior to 1685:

"7 The Hadley Proprietor's Records 1665-1779 (Proprietor's Clerk, Hadley, Massachusetts, 29), indicate that the Maple Swamp was renamed Aquavitae. From the date indicated in this particular record (that ofDeacon Nathaniel Dickinson), it appears that this change occurred prior to 1685." --from Hadley West Street Common and Great Meadow: a cultural landscape study, by Patricia Laurice Ellsworth.

[sovay]

That portion of land has been called Aquavitae since prior to 1685

That's cool!

It makes sense to me; a Latin name is either going to be old or a conscious throwback; but I think it is a little funny that prior to that it was simply "the Maple Swamp."

[ranalore]

What a haunting, beautiful summoning.

[asakiyume]

I'm so glad you found it so!

[pameladean]

That is a very alarming poem and I love it a lot.

P.

[asakiyume]

I'm glad you found it a little alarming--that's the way the feeling **is**. Thank you.

[heliopausa]

It looks like your place could give New Zealand a run for its money, in the dampness stakes! I love the photos of the quiet flooding.
Quiet - but on the other hand, take my breath away is pretty sobering. I guess you know the old rhyme "Tweed says to Till, wha' gars you run so still..."?

[asakiyume]

I don't know that rhyme! But I can tell from that line that it's one I'd like--sort of along the lines of The bells of Rhymney, only with rivers.

[heliopausa]

Old and ominous rhyme:

Tweed says to Till,
"Wha' gars you run so still?"
Till says to Tweed,
"Though you run wi' speed,
And I run slaw,
For ae mon that you drown, I drown twa."

[asakiyume]

*shiver*

[st_martin_a]

Sorry, just seen - New England.
It actually looks like England.
Love the poetry.

[asakiyume]

No worries!

And thank you ^_^

[rimturse]

What a beautiful poem. :)

[asakiyume]

I'm really glad you like it <3