Catskill Creek 1972 - Jack D. Harvey

In a circle of time

the hills surround

the light low

the air cold

sliding down

ravine after ravine

we come to

no conclusions.

Beginning again

and again

in this cold cup

of the creek

rushing rapids

rocky backbones

nestled warm

and walking

and above the

eternal foe looms,

almost benign for us.

And still in the shadow

under a bridge

evening becomes night.

She dives

luminous Ophelia

carnal Circe

comes up

wet in the world

fresh cold

her magic mask

her broken innocence

graceful child

plays, swims

across.

She beckons;

we know what songs

she sings

and wide Troy

brought down

and bones bleaching

on the shoals.

Breathless from the cold

plunging deep

starting, crossing,

following

Originally published by Duane's PoeTree, 2019

Jack D. Harvey’s poetry has appeared in Scrivener, The Comstock Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Typishly Literary Magazine, The Antioch Review, The Piedmont Poetry Journal and elsewhere. The author has been a Pushcart nominee and over the years has been published in a few anthologies.

The author has been writing poetry since he was sixteen and lives in a small town near Albany, New York. He is retired from doing whatever he was doing before he retired.