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. |
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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.