Nature Calls to Build
Poem #293 • "Welcome to the river forgotten."
Awaking to light, stone, and water
looking to the back of this shallow river
I am surrounded by steep riverbanks and a thick bed of trees
A fledgling to this waterway piled with hard remnants of eternities past
a woman covered in light and shade looks my way
as if she has been expecting me to stir for a period protracted
“Welcome to the river forgotten,” she says.
“You are at nature’s edge. I am the woman of the wood.”
“In time immemorial I wait for the end of the age when man dies and so too does nature with no creature to be its master.”
“It has been millennia since this domain teemed with all manner of life. The winds have stopped kicking, the leaves are still. It’s so quiet that even this trickling water echoes throughout the remnants of this cruel and indifferent nature”.
Indeed, I can hear the murmurous ripples from the woman’s feet as if they were sloshing in quarrel with my ears. It takes quite an effort to focus and hear through the wet emptiness.
“You’ll adjust. Breathe heavily, exert, and build. The sounds of life will find balance and make the sounds of silence still. Then the way beyond the thick trees will open. Your activity here will make rain and bring a balance to life again. And when the waters rise above the tree line, you’ll find your way home and back again.”
And so, that is the way I lived. Somehow in my human nature I knew that I was both larger than life but tied to its roots. I had dominion over every creature and fielded all manner of life for food, shelter, speaking my purpose quietly and with increasing might. Every now and again I’d see the woman of the wood with the reflection of the river in her thigh. As the water level rose so did the water dance further up her form, and when the reflection finally reached her face, the tree line was broken.
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For more of Grant Hope, you can find books, audio visual poetry, and his “Poetry Respite” newsletter at his website: granthopestudios.com
What stood out to me most was the feeling this poem creates. It has that rare ability to slow the reader down and invite them into the scene rather than just describe it. The opening line is especially intriguing—it feels like an invitation into a story, a memory, or a place waiting to be rediscovered. I enjoyed the balance of imagery and emotion throughout. Your poems consistently leave me with something to think about long after I've finished reading.
This poem has such a welcoming atmosphere to it. The phrase “Welcome to the river forgotten” immediately caught my attention and made me curious to keep reading. There’s a sense of quiet reflection throughout the piece that feels both peaceful and meaningful. What I appreciate most about your writing is how you can make nature feel like more than a setting—it becomes part of the message itself. Another thoughtful and beautifully crafted poem, Grant.