Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.
River
The boat carries merchandise
slowly downstream,
past signalling long grass.
A town is waiting
far away, drying its roofs
by the edge of the water,
calling in its fish.
The boat searches for the pale
blue and brown verticals of wood,
the families gentle on doorsteps,
and the town is attentive to the river
murmuring the motor in its mud.
from Breathe Now, Breathe (Enitharmon, 1995) © Jane Duran 1995, used by permission of the author and the publisher .