Moving water

by Marianne Brems

A river’s insistent movement
loosens things,
like a constant changing of garments.

The perimeters of rocks
join the flow
that smooths their edges.

Sediment  
fills hollow places 
among raw protrusions.

Cattails and branches decay.
Turtles graze.
Beavers build dams. 

Aspen roots cleanse.
Ospreys and grebes hunt.
Frogs and trout spawn.

All lay down their footprint
in a stew
of birth, transformation, and death,

leaving a community 
caught permanently  
between no longer and yet.

---

Marianne Brems’ two poetry chapbooks are Sliver of Change (Finishing Line Press, 2020) and Unsung Offerings (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Her poems have also appeared in literary journals including The Pangolin Review, Nightingale & Sparrow, The Sunlight Press, and The Tiny Seed Literary Journal. She lives and cycles in Northern California. Website: www.mariannebrems.com.