The River Connects Us

New Work

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  • Bird

    Description goes hAs I looked up at the big blue sky,
    I saw a bird flapping by.
    Now I have questions! I want to know.
    How do they do that? And why can’t I?
    I have arms, so can I fly?
    I am going to try.

    - Aria (Age 8)

  • Docking—Figure Eight With New Rope In Blue (a cinquain)

    Sun, wind

    Cut deep furrows

    On deck wood and crewman’s

    Hands alike. Only rope is new,

    And blue.

    - Tom Gillaspy 2024

  • River Town Hangouts--A Haiku

    In the land of ribs,

    Blatz beer bars, and Harley hogs,

    Kawasaki roars

    - Tom Gillaspy 2024

  • White Pelican

    Skirting the red osier marsh,

    bounded by burgeoning

    fox sedge and wild rice,

    bulrush and manna grass close-by,

    A primordial lily pad pool erupts

    as ten-foot wings spread

    over the water,

    slowly gathering speed,

    pushing a surge ahead

    like a twin-engine float plane.

    Rising on sun-warmed air,

    then higher and higher,

    catching midday thermals,

    he soars with antediluvian grace,

    transcending the peak

    Of the Mountain Whose Foot is Bathed

    in the Waters of the Great River.

    This elegant white bird with black wingtips

    carries his own sashimi

    to the Migration Planning Committee.

    - Tom Gillaspy, Summer 2024

  • Going West Through The Arch

    While you are still crossing over,

    Not yet renewed

    By these fast-moving waters,

    Living still in the present,

    In the humdrum of the now,

    Covered with dust of the past,

    The dazzling

    Stainless Arch beckons.

    In slanted early morning light,

    Rainbow dew drops

    On shoreline sedge reflect

    The bejeweled archway span.

    Leave the old, broken,

    Wrinkled ground behind!

    - Tom Gillaspy, Summer 2024