Downriver

Cynthia Pitman

Thickets of palmetto trees
clench the riverbanks.
Water oaks rise,
dripping tangled curls
of Spanish moss.
My oars cut the water
as if it were sweet syrup.
Barely a sound – just a quiet splash
as each oar dips in then emerges
from the dark depths.
The canoe moves slowly,
sliding smoothly downriver.
Waiting somewhere there
is the respite I seek
from the metal and mortar
and crowds and heat
that surround me daily
as I pretend to live my concrete life.
All of its hard solidity
pinches me in on myself,
squeezing my breath from me
as I sweat away any hope of peace.
Only downriver will I find
cool water that reflects with clarity
the greenery and grace
that exists there to embrace me.
When I arrive there and breathe air
that is fresh and free,
life will stir again within.

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Cynthia Pitman
Cynthia Pitman from Orlando, FL, is the author of poetry collections The White Room, Blood Orange, and Breathe (Kelsay Books) and has been published in Bright Flash Review, Amethyst Review, Heart of Flesh, Literary Yard, The Ekphrastic Review, Third Wednesday (One Sentence Poem Contest finalist), Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art (Pushcart Prize nominee), and other journals, and in Vita Brevis Press anthologies Pain and Renewal, Brought to Sight & Swept Away, Nothing Divine Dies, and What is All This Sweet Work?