the river and me, today, by Kieran Lundy
i flayed the river
again today
its mouth diverged
strangely,
frowning.
i followed;
turned both ways
at the fork,
it moved me there.
the body upstream
pervades,
it is always beneath me.
the underbelly
of this brocade —
i try to tear the stream
set it free,
but the light and
water shift.
it is not the same as it once was,
but not so different either.
the river doesn’t give
again,
so I hug the body tight.
Kieran Lundy is a rising junior from Long Beach, California and former Inaugural Youth Poet Ambassador of Long Beach. His work has been published in American High School Poets, the California Poets in the Schools’ Statewide Anthology, and Inlandia Institute. His poetry is also forthcoming in the Incandescent Review and has been awarded by the Scholastic Foundation. Kieran is now in his second term as an Ambassador.
— Kieran Lundy
