R.A.D. Stainforth rusticating at the River Irwell...
Yours is elegant,
Limpid in hairpins;
Limpid in hairpins;
Addressed
formally,
With
a proper honorific.
Mine
is a turgid native,
Wild
story-teller,
Straight
as an arrow,
Called
by her maiden name.
Both
channel to mouths,
Hungry
for an open sea;
Fresh
tongues craving salt,
The
mutual waves.
tk/May 2012
image: River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth
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Really lovely poem, Tess. One of my favorites of yours. K.
ReplyDeleteLovely......so lovely........
ReplyDelete:)
Beautiful
ReplyDeleteThis is spectacular, Tess! Life, erotic life!
ReplyDeletePerfect Tess. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHairpins... sigh... everybody's let their hair down.
Oh ... how water can invest one's emotions. ;)
ReplyDeleteAh yes; young or old, straight and curved we all crave the same release.
ReplyDeleterel
Well done... all with the tongue.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good poem, Audenesque in some ways.
ReplyDeleteLovely, Tess. "limpid in hairpins." Exquisite.
ReplyDeleteMutual waves..
ReplyDeleteMy fav.
Brilliant, as usual:)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous, Tess. The middle stanza speaks the loudest.
ReplyDeleterosemarymint.wordpress.com
So lovely. I read, went off to do stuff. Came back read again then listened to R.A.D reading. It sounds so lovely being read aloud.
ReplyDeleteYes, the poem sounds super aloud, too!
ReplyDeletez6/the-river/">the river</az
ReplyDeletei like the turgid native
ReplyDeletethe river
(0)
ReplyDeleteLove the combo of reading and here a nice Englishmen voice reading this hot poem to me.
ReplyDeletehttp://leah-jamielynn.typepad.com/blog/
I. Love. It. You never disappoint, Tess.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorites, just lovely. Tess.
ReplyDeleteA river song, a water lullaby, down
ReplyDeleteby the riverside, you lie the pure
poetics down, and we love it;
nice transpositions from rivers
of note to rivers of quiet elegance;
a fun write today.
Diversity, in rivers, in places, in people. I love this.
ReplyDeleteAfter three reads, I'm still intrigued by the images and the different levels of my understanding(?) ... beautiful piece.
ReplyDeletei love the concept of two rivers yours and mine. a most erotic poem. and lovely photos.
ReplyDeletethis is a beauty tess, two personalities of a river coming together.
ReplyDeleteJust wonderful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeletei'll take the wild one...smiles...tongues hungry for salt indeed...ha...nice touch...
ReplyDeleteThis is plain yummy.
ReplyDelete=)
Hey, I am teaching poetry to my first graders starting tomorrow. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteGary, show them how lovely certain words are, when paired together...
ReplyDeleteI just love this. Living rivers, different, but both craving salt and sharing new life as mutual waves.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be one of my favorites of yours. Sensational write.
ReplyDeleteThis is so wonderfully done...I love rivers!
ReplyDeleteI love your poem. Two rivers run through it. Wonderful contrasts and commonalities. It is the first time I have ever thought to envision a river as a tongue. It works so well!! Thank you for sharing your artistically, creative ideas, always. =D
ReplyDeletebeautiful, Tess.. really beautiful.. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a nurturing poem, with inspiring images....and the I enjoyed the video as well!
ReplyDeleteI like that phrase 'fresh tongues craving salt'. It describes the river seeking the sea beautifully.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. For me, the whole piece hinges on the line, "Fresh tongues craving salt."
ReplyDeletebeautiful piece again Miss Tess!..
ReplyDeleteJJRod'z
beautiful beautiful poem -really great language images rhythm flow- a gem
ReplyDeleteI really like this a lot. I think we need to take a research trip to see just how alike & different each river is :)
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent, Tess! Every last word of it, but I really do love that last stanza with the mouths and the salt.
ReplyDeleteThat which is similar, that which is different, converging commonality. Beautifully constructed.
ReplyDeleteLove this and all the pictures that flashed through my brain when I read it:)
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put...different, but in reality...the same. Another big winner. Vb
ReplyDeleteLove where you take me ... where you take all of us!!
ReplyDeleteVery nice imagery. And we all have our particular rivers of memory.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds great! Akin to reading aloud by oneself. Great write, Tess!
ReplyDeleteHank
Beautiful fluidity...
ReplyDeleteThis really has the quality of water..it flows, fills in all the spaces..a beautiful journey..
ReplyDeleteDear Tess: Did enjoy this rendering of parallel lines; river lives. All the acoutrements of perfection is this poem.
ReplyDeleteA Caduceus wand of sensuality. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteHow do you post a you tube video to your blog, and not just a link ?
what an image you selected for the post.
ReplyDeleteNicely done. Leaves a warm, satisfied feeling.
ReplyDeleteKutamun, at YouTube, under the video you want to post, click "embed", then copy and paste the blue highlighted code into your blog post as HTML. Get it? Got it? Good.
ReplyDeleteNice reflections, "The Tale of Two Rivers?" Rivers inspire me.
ReplyDeleteWonderful piece: so elegant and packing so much meaning into its few short lines.
ReplyDeleteOh! This stopped me in my tracks. Just incredible. Especially:
ReplyDelete"Called by her maiden name."
and
"Both channel to mouths,
Hungry for an open sea;"
LOVE the metaphor here, the aligning of self with river bend. Just perfect.
de
whimsygizmo.wordpress.com
Puts me in mind of that old Doris Day song, "The Three Rivers"... you can hear it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaflYAzp4Jg
Wow! Simply gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteExquisite!! Your closing is just pure magic, Tess!!
ReplyDeleteThe mutual waves indeed....love this Tess!! :-)
ReplyDeleteso very different and yet to the same ending :-)
ReplyDeleteBoth channel to mouths,
ReplyDeleteHungry for an open sea;
Fresh tongues craving salt,
The mutual waves.
Can't get enough of this !
Rivers will never be the same again.
Fresh tongues craving salt... tasty.:)
ReplyDeleteThank you dear readers. Your weekly encouragement means so very much to me. I know I always say it, but you are the best. You really are.
ReplyDelete