No, on this day, the daddy is strolling around St. Anthony Main, a small commercial enclave centered on the North side of the Mississippi river, in downtown
The daddy is standing in the center of a bridge, staring at the water below. It seems to come toward the daddy in waves, somehow calming his nerves, replenishing his soul.
Standing on this bridge, the daddy, for some reason, begins to think of the great African American poet Langston Hughes, of his poem about the river, his first published poem, one of his best. The daddy, who fancies himself as a writer, a poet, stares into the mighty Mississippi and tries to remember Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers:”
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
Flow of human blood in human veins.
I bathed in the
I built my hut in the
I looked upon the
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
Went down to
Bosom turns all golden in the sunset…”
{The daddy forgets the rest of the poem. Damn! Let me see: Senator McCain is 71 years old and sometimes has senior moments. What’s the daddy’s lame excuse?}
The daddy stares into the river again, beneath the waves, shutting out the sound and slowly begins to remember the rest of the poem:
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
5 comments:
Well Mr. Daddy,
It is a beautiful day for a walk, I hope you found even more inspiration. I did read the Bilary article and the Bobbie Kennedy/Obama article. You have made a wonderful POV magazine. Christine
Anon: Thanks for the staying in touch...Yes, it was a fantastic day!
SPRING, FINALLY!!! I'm glad you took advantage of it, MacDaddy...Some of your stuff is really deep....Your sou HAS become "deeplike the rivers." (Did today's piece come out of that walk? Lot's of history down there in the deepth of your soul. Keep writing, so we all can plumb those depths!) Water reaches us a lot about wisdom and life....I think I'll take a walk down by the Locks today...It may just lighten me up,too! Even Nuns in the 'Hood need to be refrshed!
nun: Thanks and enjoy your walk!
Rivers are timeless and so full of wisdom. I have a favorite river that I've sat beside and listened to in some of my toughest times and my best times. . . sometimes I'm not sure which were which. Sometimes the river talked to me and sometimes the fish or other animals talked to me, but it's hard to sit beside a river without learning something.
Go with the flow Daddy. . . that smooth, liquid soothing flow.
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