GRAND LADY RIVER

GRAND LADY RIVER

George Gershwin’s Porgy sang to you
as an Ol’ Man,
But that’s not true!
You’ve been a woman since Creation.
You’ve flowed seductively thru centuries
churned up regularly by storms.
Your fertile depths have nourished generations
who’ve called your valley home.
You’ve carried children on your back thru the ages,
in canoes, on flatboats,
in steam-powered paddle wheelers,
on barges and tugboats.
More than a woman, Missus Sippy River,
You are a lady,
a fluid Grande Dame.
Powerfully dividing East from West
and quietly holding us together.

2 Oct 2007 - mshr

Previous Index of Stories Next