Here where the light shows itself off
a canal turns its back on the buildings
sniffs and moves on,
draws itself into dead ends
doubles back to check bridges
its reflection, its meanderings,
spreads out to tease banks
garlanded, with tresses that tumble,
is pleased with its imperceptible flow
lays on its back in pools of sun
blends into night as dark dreams begin.
I love the feeling of this, Ray.
Nice to see you liking this Jennifer. I wanted to personalize the canal hence the lines that kick it off. I tend as you know to write short poems as I run out of options quite quickly, and end up with vignettes.
Ray
Fascinating! It's always a surprise to find a canal in the depths of a town, as Graham says, it's difficult to imagine how busy they would have been when built. Especially liked the first three lines. A lot of people go cancycling along an unused, but well kept canal where I live.
Jennifer
Hi Tom a comment just to you thanks for liking my canalside view!
Ray
Thanks Graham for that considered view. Of course, the relishing of quiet waters and the benefits that canalside greenery offer is a wonderful lesson in pace, and an antedote to the motorway rush. There is still life as you say, but it's not the grind of industry. To find a facsimile of that, a visit to Blist Hill and suchlike is a learning curve. I miss Fred Dibnah who seemed to embody much of the past.
Ray
Missed this Ray.
For me there is a significant juxt between the canals of yesteryear and those of today. We live very close to the Grand Union. When walking there I cannot but help compare the seemingly happy-go-lucky tourism use that we witness today with the gritty hard-edged reality of those that built them and those who plied their trade upon them.
Of course if it were not for the leisure industry, most would have disappeared long ago. Strange!
Your piece fulfils the slow but steady movement of craft then and now, the only real correlation.
This poem was inspired by David Moore and I dedicate it to him in honour of his sensitivity and appreciation of the world of water and its freedoms.
Thank you Keith - I like the idea of everything animal vegetable and mineral having a soul of sorts, so I take that as a compliment!
Glad you like it so much Don. Thank you.
That was spot on Jason - works well for me that assessment, thanks.
What a great way to exercise your options Hugh. A new word added to the canon. Cheers!
Frances, Adam, Kevin, Julia and Kate many thanks for your liking the poem.
Ray
Great poem.I love the canal and spend a lot of time on it with my dog cycling,I call my activity "canycling."
Really love this Ray, to me it paints the picture of a big, inquisitive, slow moving serpent, gently and quietly snaking it's way across the landscape.
J. x
So good Ray.....
Exquisite! This poem captures so much of those man made features which criss cross our industrial landscape as if they possess a soul of their own.
Thanks
Keith
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raypool
Mon 30th Sep 2019 12:01
Thanks for getting this one Jon, appreciated.
Ray