The Poddington Project: Christine DeWinter

The River's Cry

i.

Dora, weeping, sad, and lonely,
Sought escape from her small town.
She took a path towards the river
And with tripping steps, went down.

Branches parted for poor Dora
In her tattered wedding gown
As she stumbled toward the river
Hoping there that she might drown.

Bereft, deserted, heart so empty,
A grassy spot our Dora spied,
There with hair cascading wetly--

Into the river, she laid and cried.

Our Dora cried for her lost love;
He to her had wooed and lied.
How she wept there, by the river!
Heart forlorn, our Dora cried.

ii.

By the misty morning sunlight
Dora thought she'd make an end.
By the grassy dewy river
Her soul to God would Dora send.

"Oh God!" she cried in mortal torment,
"But that I had a single friend!"
Then her hands, they gripped her skirts,
And wedding gown began to rend.

"Village tongues, they wag against me--
Got with child before a bride!
May my death bring blessed silence!"

Hearing this, the river cried.

The river cried for her lost love,
The man who left our Dora's side,
The river wept at Dora's anguish--
Hearing it, the river cried.

iii.

Dora dried her tears, quite startled
To have captured Nature's ear.
But she felt no reservation
And she felt no earthly fear.

Down she knelt, and spoke of cruelty--
Wagging tongues and looks severe.
Wicked gossips in the village;
Each wore a smug and nasty sneer.

"River, river, how they taunt me!
And only you let me confide
My sorrow and my melancholy!"

Hearing this, the river cried.

The river cried at her sad state--
Lost, alone, her love belied.
Despised by the entire village--
Hearing it, the river cried.

iv.

Gently rain fell from the heavens
Wetting Dora's wedding gown.
The river cried upon poor Dora--
The river cried upon the town.

Heavily the rain continued
Dripping, splashing, flooding down.
Muddy were the crops and fields,
Dirty were the streets, and brown.

"River, gently take me under,"
Dora pled. "I should have died!
A lonely, bereft unwed mother."

Hearing this, the river cried.

The river cried at Dora's anguish,
Sitting by the waterside,
Hated by both town and kinfolk--
Hearing it, the river cried.

v.

The river's tears, they flowed so quickly,
Never stopping, day on day.
Waters flood the tiny village
'Til at last, it sweeps away.

Then come whispers from the river
"Dora, love, with me you'll stay.
Vengeance I have taken for you."
Dora's trembling lips said: "Nay!"

"River, how your tears have punished
Many folk--none should have died
Save for me, a forlorn sinner!"

And hearing this, the river cried.

The river cried at Dora's rebuke,
Echoing through the countryside.
For her love and for her friendship
Had the river gently cried.

vi.

Up the river's waters coursed
Onto grassy, fertile ground
About Dora formed a whirlpool--
And the waters swirled around.

Angry water, denied thanks--
A vicious pool, fierce as a hound
Took the wailing, weeping Dora
In its depths, and there she drowned.

Dora, limp, unfeeling, tossed
By the river where she died,
Ever in its depths now dwelling--

Knowing this, the river cried.

The river cried for loss of Dora.
The river bore her on the tide
Down to the raving, briny ocean.
Bearing her, the river cried.

(Vance Briceland)