Summer on the River
- Summer on the River
Cañon City, Colorado
My new favorite wordis fleeting, mostlybecause of the wayit skitters across your teethlike a stoneskipped across water.
By the river, we spendthe evenings baskingin our summertime selfishness.They say the waterwill make you remember,little things: the stenchof Venice, the stingof Bourbon on cracked lips,the way you used to feelwhen people spoke of heaven.
I’m sorry.I kissed you only becausethere were mountainsto the westand storms to the north.
In the late summer mornings,you can hear the beastof Septemberbeginning to stirfrom its year-long slumber.As far as the river is concerned,autumn marks the endof everything.
In a tent at the edgeof the field, the loversare asleep. Caughtin the spasms of early dreams,his fingers twitchthrough her hair as ifby instinct, like an infantdesperate to grab holdof somethingit cannot name. [End Page 22]
Monica Claesson studies English and Spanish at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Long before she discovered the world of poetry, she developed a keen fascination with place; what started as a simple love of nature eventually grew into a passion for the environment, outdoor recreation, and travel. Her goal is to capture, through poetry, the aesthetics of a given place, be it the deserts of Utah, the rivers of Colorado, or the mountains of Peru.
