Sounds of the River  
Matthew Hamilton


1.
 
The kayak squeezes
between sharp rocks
and to hold the paddle
against the protesting froth
I roll under a world
which I’ve never before seen.
 
2.
 
Under a thick tree I sit
bend my ear and listen
to voices skipping
across the rocks,
catching words that tug
and gnaw at my mind
like fish through silt.
 
3.
 
We lie at sunset
near the Buttermilk Trail
watching as a great blue heron
stands motionless on a rock
and a frog kicks leisurely
through the river grass
toward its muddy oxbow.

About the Author: Matthew Hamilton is a former Soldier, Congressional Aide, US Peace Corps Volunteer, and Benedictine Monk. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from Fairfield University and is a four- time Pushcart Prize nominee. His chapbook, The Land of the Four Rivers, published by Cervena Barva Press, won the 2013 Best Poetry Book from Peace Corps Writers. His second poetry collection, Lips Open and Divine, will be release in 2016 by Winter Goose Publishing. Currently, he is the Librarian at Benedictine College Preparatory, an all-male, Catholic Military high school in Richmond, VA.

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