Poem #11

March 19th

BLOOD RIVER

unlucky street

beside the river

three houses in a row

three mothers who lost sons

one to madness

one to death

and one we’ll never know

blood river

boneyard slick runs down

no houses at the brink

the slime creeps up

to number five

but passes number six

on to seven

with the curse

no one home at nine

no matter

it will follow you

to snatch your child

in time

three mothers

and their lovely crop

of sons gone missing

one’s never coming back

one’s disappeared into the mist

one left his home without a kiss

and tears fall down

towards the river

wombs clench up

with hot remembered pain

that once brought joy

that made a boy

to never see

again.

See also poems read out loud at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9uLwxslE_VQ-fu-Dw6gdIA/playlists

Also https://www.amazon.com.au/Day-At-Time-Rhyme/dp/0648083861/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+Day+At+A+Time+In+Rhyme+Jane+Clifton&qid=1572053238&sr=8-1