Beside us
rivers administer
our sense of time
through water’s rush
like blood’s throb
through our internal channels
where currents surge
faster when we’re children
meander
in our middle-ages
run steady
through spells of constancy
swell after storms
My sadness at last
went
when I tracked a stretch
of the Middle Fork
silver
splashing
through duff and diorite
sun on its surface
I go to rivers for their indifference
Rivers to set my crafts afloat
Rivers to carry me out and deep
Pamela Hobart Carter is the author of two poetry chapbooks, Her Imaginary Museum (Kelsay Books, 2020) and Held Together with Tape and Glue (Finishing Line Press, 2021). She loves how close the Cascades are to Seattle. Summers she hikes in them, winters she skis in them. She has always been interested in rocks and has two geology degrees, from Indiana University and Bryn Mawr College. www.playwrightpam.wordpress.com
