"River" by Charlene Stegman Moskal
Our lines stretch and waver; pieces of DNA from an ancient spool reach out tentative to touch
parallel lives, wanting to envelop, entwine, but hesitant to ford the river’s swift moving currents.
Touch, that commitment to connect carries with its promise the possibility to unravel, become
tattered, torn, turned away, drift solo in ripples of I told you so and what were you thinking. Only
those with nothing to lose jump in, float on top where the current slows to a gentle push, sends soft
signals, allows the dizzy, surprised embrace of two separate lines to merge with the expectation of
what’s next? Where does this river with its roars and murmurs lead? What ongoing rhythms will
bring us safely, joyfully to the shore?
Leaves drift unaware
Reeds watch over muddy banks
birds prepare to fly
Charlene Stegman Moskal is a Teaching Artist for SPRAT Interdisciplinary Arts and the Las Vegas Poetry Promise Organization. She is published in numerous anthologies, print and online magazines including: “TAB Journal”; “Calyx”, “Humana Obscura”, and “Mac Q” Her chapbooks are “One Bare Foot”, (Zeitgeist Press), “Leavings from My Table”, (Finishing Line Press),“Woman Who Dyes Her Hair” (Kelsay Books) and a full length poetry collection “Running the Gamut” (Zeitgeist Press).