Clouds framed a glaring window,
where the sun failed to shine.
Winds loosed a hailstorm of pine cones.
The icy river churned and burbled,
depositing silt onto smooth stones.
Upriver, the dam released water slowly.
The waterfall below demanded rain,
but it lay heavy in the black clouds.
A few drops spattered in the gorge,
unnoticed by waders in the flats.
The river shrugged smooth shoulders,
showing its sharp granite bones.
Children chased fish downriver,
while parents soaked tired feet,
listening for thunder and
dreading the long climb out.
Canoers beached their boats,
donned yellow lifejackets,
and floated around the rapids,
bobbing in the slow side current.
Children pointed, laughed,
and longed to be in the thick of it.
I am the children. I am the river.
I am black clouds longing for release.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: These photographs are of Quechee Gorge and Ottauquechee River, Vermont.
Amazing photos and beautiful poetry. Nature is so beautiful, but it takes a special person to see and share it with others.
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Thanks, Toni! 🙂 You’re special, too.
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Powerful personification of the river in the ending verses. Beautifully penned, my friend. All the best to you! Aquileana ⭐
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Thanks, Vermont was a magical place. 🙂
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What a wonderful experience and lovely scenery.
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Thanks! I’m working on a tiny fairy tale now. It’s nearly done. 🙂
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Welcome to Vermont Brenda!!!!!! Head north a few miles and you will discover the Green Mountain National Forest!!! So many amazing and inspirational places there! Just today I picked wild blueberries in a field deep in the forest!!!! Enjoy your stay my friend!!!❤️
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We saw seven different varieties of fungus along the Texas Falls path today. And a beautiful falls! Vermont is a gorgeous state. And so cool and green!
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So you found the forest!!!!:-) Texas Falls is beautiful!!! Further down rt 125 towards Middlebury is the Robert Frost interpretive trail!!!!! A nice 1 mile loop with his poems throughout!!!
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Oh, I missed it. I’ll have to remember it for another visit. It was such fun. I feel more calm and content than before I went.
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Then it worked it’s magic!!!!!❤️
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You are lucky to live up there in the summer. I imagine the fall is also stunning.
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Wow! I like the mood of this poem! It’s powerful and foreboding!
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Thanks. Sometimes I feel like I’m always waiting for the next storm. Do you know what I mean?
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Hmm… I’m not sure but… a storm of ideas? a brain storm? or a storm of inspirations?
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Yeah! What a good interpretation. 🙂
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Oh so so beautiful 🙂 🙂
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Thank you!
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That was wonderful, Brenda, words and pictures. 🙂
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Thanks, Richard. A bit of a departure for my site, but the mountains are doing odd things to me. 🙂
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Good things 🙂
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Yes, very good. 🙂
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I make Cindy’s words my words, too! Fantastic! 🙂
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Thanks!!
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You are always raising the bar, Brenda! Lucky us! 🙂
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I’m only raising my own bar. 🙂 You are all awesome already.
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fantastic poem!
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Thanks!
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I am in awe of this dynamic and dangerous side of you. I liked the image of the jagged stones and steep cliffs being “bones.” How you end this makes it so powerful and “real.” Like an autobiographical image of a daredevil.
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I guess my inner daredevil is showing through. I went skydiving to celebrate my 25th birthday. I do have strong bones. It’s been tested. LOL
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This is a whole other side. But at 25 no kids to worry about now you need to be more careful. Thus is big sis talking ha ha ! 🙂
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Yes, you’re right. No skydiving for me these days. 🙂 I’ve always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon, though…
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
OOH, OOH…..WHITE WATER!!!!! POETRY TO MATCH!!!! 😀
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XOXO
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❤ ❤ ❤
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wow, the beauty of these pics really matches the beauty of your words )
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Thanks, Beth! It was hard to get picture with no people in them — it was a busy place. 🙂
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Gorgeous poetry & imagery!
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Thanks, Cindy! Always happy to see your gravatar and kind words. XOXO
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