Along The River's Breath

51 Comments

Along The River's Breath


This poem is about some people I have lost along the way. Some will pay thier fare and some cannot.

The boat oars and chains are clanging
He floats along the river's breath
A river so foul to drink of it
Upon you falls instant death
Bubbling and churning with fire
Charon utters, not a word
The fare lay beneath your tongue
If you lived your days, preferred
For those empty palated souls
Damned to reap what they sow
And to seek the Paupers entrance
Which was lost, long long ago

Sleeping Beauty rests peacefully
With just a hint of a smile
Her hands lay fold, cross her breast
I stand above her awhile
The Preacher reciting passages
Her face looks of porcelain glass
Steadily and rapidly, his words fall to the floor
Even on this day, her beauty remains, unsurpassed
Before I left, I stowaway beneath her tongue
A coin for the rivers fare
And a promise as I depart
In my time, I will meet her there

Next a child, hidden as a man
He never learned of love
His misdirect of intimacy
Weighed heavy, upon his lung
So charismatic and spiteful
Too hollow to remember to forget
He went off shopping doctors
And huffing his regret
Know now not from mention of him
But he was infamous, Long ago
For his disappearing act
Found buried beneath the snow

A good hearted man, caring and kind
Never did he ask for much
Modest, his secret hidden in shadows
He felt so, as not to be a crutch
Long ago, he helped me fly without wings
Dip dodging ceiling fans
Welcomed hugs from his sandpaper face
Were forever in our plans
But in the end, as I sit with him
Playing music all the while
The joker to the end in his unique way
He went out just as he said, 'In style'

A miserable woman, self proclaimed nurse
Always had time for a friend
But when the going got tough, she got to going
Leaving behind her children in the end
A cold, black hearted woman,
Lived in self fulfilling strife
Abandonment from death all but forgiven
But she left her children behind in waking life
In her time she contributed little
She lived her days hapless, mindless, and without care
But when appearing beside the flame lit rivers edge
She would find herself there, without a fare

Lastly, a gentle soul
Who I was proud to call my friend
If a problem needed fixing
He was always there to lend a hand
He made the trip, in his dreams
And stopped to visit me along the way
I was tired and wished to leave with him
But he implored me to stay
I awoke the next day, to hear of the news
No matter to me, I already knew
I still think it unfair, a man should die
Because his heart too large it had grew

In due time, so shall we all make that trip
Across the breath of the River Styx
How has your time passed the door
Did your conscience make the right picks
Everyone faces Charon in the end, but as you know he never speaks
His stare pierces through your soul and he knows
And he's run on mercy for the weak
The latter of deaths law, has no top or bottom rung
So live and love, happily without regret or love to spare
When your time has come, look beneath your tongue
And pray your fare is nestled snuggly there

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WordSlinger commented on Along The River's Breath

12-02-2010

This is interesting, must be huh, you are a great Poet, we are fortunate to read you, as the sun brings life, you are admired, ty WS, much apreciated

SuSpence

12/08/2010

Muchas Gracias Wordslinger, and Feliz Navidad haha. Peace and Love, Spence

Teardrops commented on Along The River's Breath

12-01-2010

this is amazing I see the way you loved your firends . great write and i agree with angel move over Suspence is here great write my friend Marie

SuperChick62 commented on Along The River's Breath

12-01-2010

'tis a sad tale, to lose one's friends... But they live(er, die) in the world they created... Let us hope 'tis a happy one. I love it, my love... You are brilliant!

SuSpence

12/02/2010

You got it! Haha, thanks baby, your brilliance surrounds me, and keeps me warm in even the coldest of nights. 143 Baby :) Love ~Spence

SuperChick62

12/02/2010

You, Spence, I am sure, will have a brilliant afterlife! And I'm sure you'll make me life as wonderful of a person as you do to make sure I meet you there!!!

SuperChick62

12/02/2010

Awesome pic, BTW

Desmotti commented on Along The River's Breath

12-01-2010

Charon...Oh the Gated man of a hell manifest...for that is the man of limbo...though many a word describe a hell that hath a ferry to and fro?...tis not so, but I must applaud thy use of learned teachings old...so boldly implicated all you've known and passed on toward the black but known? For in the middle of Earth her bowels a fire of crimson and sulfuric caustic...to breathe but easy we must attain that higher desire above agnostic...flame will scorch the very faith and make all science dirt and sand...refined in mind the linear tangible...eventually they all are malleable.

SuperChick62

12/01/2010

I'm not sure I understand this comment... I mean, I know we create our own afterlife(or so I believe) but this poem is about accepting the loss of friends... and I was just wondering if you could explain your wisdom a little more?

SuSpence

12/02/2010

Thanks for the comment Des, but I too am a lil confused. And I am aware that the Ferryman in the literal sense 'Tis not so'. I just used this as a symbol for the afterlife, whatever this may be. I guess in the most simplistic terms I was saying, as the Beatles so eloquently put it, 'In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.' If you live a good life you will have a fare to pass out of hell or purgatory, live as an asshole and you're screwed. Peace and Love, Spence

LenaM commented on Along The River's Breath

11-18-2010

I connected to this in ways that I have difficulty describing and it touched me to the very depths of my soul , almost like being drop kicked for lack of better wording . Amazing write my new friend amazing

SuSpence

11/18/2010

Thank you so much Lena, I am glad you connected to this so :) Peace and Love ~Spence

The true philosopher and the true poet are one, and a beauty, which is truth, and a truth, which is beauty, is the aim of both.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet (1803-1882)

SuSpence’s Poems (53)

Title Comments
Title Comments
Eyes Of Hazel One 6
Each New Day 16
The Tomorrow Dream 43
What See You 19
Nirvana (Haiku) 13
Sonnet 3 21
The Poetry Of Time 33
Mirrored Souls 33
My Open Broken Heart 20
Passing Thoughts 16
Sonnet 1 19
Ode To My Love 17
Angel With Butterfly Wings 20
Procrastinati
on
16
A Conversation in Appreciation 13
Miranda's Song 14
The Sarasota Blues 27
Highku 22
Tripping Stream of Consciousness 35
Along The River's Breath 51
Sometimes... 37
Transport 34
Love Never Knows 39
SuSpence's Dream 33
Ode to the Beatles (acrostic challenge) 18
The Generation Who Sold The World 30
Christine 24
Glenn Beck (Haiku) Compilation 32
The Tragic Tale of Alejandro Vega 56
Ballad of the Lost Man 32
Gulf of Fire (Haiku) 34
Fade to White 34
Ugly World 53
Searchin' for Love 26
Lost am I 28
Shards of Me 27
The Sadness, 10
The New Moon 18
I Imagine, 13
Lovesick, Lonesome Blues 11
SIX FOOT 11
Beautiful Poet 10
The Morning Sun 5
A Question for Love 13
Realm of Delusion 26
Simply Thoughts of You 9
Caught Staring 6
The Edge of the Headlands 3
In My Mind... 15
Thoughts of Natalia 14
A New Path 10
Daydream 12
Gone is my Sunshine 17