If the River Were a Man

This poem is written, loosely, in the form of a pantoum. I am experimenting with this form because I find it very evocative of the language of magic; of spells and incantations. And since I am working on some new magic (she says slyly), well… it always pays to practice.

if the river were a man tonight
outside my window
I would promise to love him
as if he would always be here

outside my window
like he is tonight
as if he would always be here
unhurried and brushed smooth
by the borrowed light of a complicated moon

like he is tonight
silent with the sorrows of his constant freedom
unhurried and brushed smooth
by the borrowed light of a complicated moon
like a snake in the grass, slipping always away

silent with the sorrows of his constant freedom
I would promise to love him
like a snake in the grass, slipping always away
if the river were a man tonight