Writing the River

by Peter Stiles

Writing the River
by Peter Stiles
 
(after a poem by Luci Shaw of the same title written soon after her sad loss)

I read this poem so many times, imagining you by Beaver Creek,
     the overflowing river rushing by your cabin.
I hear the torrent, like a metaphor, 
     cascading over rocks by night and day,
          signalling a movement on from loss, the singleness of sorrow.
Few years have passed since he has died, and now
     you stoke the woodstove on your own, chopping wood,
          splitting kindling, as dreams and memory mingle.
I read this poem so many times, the silence in your writing,
     the will to keep on flowing, like this river, window open,
         seasons knowing, change in Beaver Creek, 
            sometimes slowing to a trickle over pebbles
               summer’s showing, in water like dark tea.
I read this poem so many times, fine metaphor of sadness,
     pitting self against the years to come, alone by Beaver Creek,
          this liquid poem keeps speaking.
I read this poem so many times, imagining your grieving.

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Dr. Peter Stiles graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English Literature. He then undertook a Master of Education degree at the University of NSW. After pursuing theological studies at Regent College, Vancouver, he completed a Doctorate in Literature and Theology at the University of Glasgow. His present role is Senior Lecturer in Education at Excelsia University College, Sydney. Peter has also lectured at Trinity Western University in Vancouver and Houghton College, New York. He has published three collections of his verse, entitled ‘Trumped by Grace’ (2015), ‘Surprised by Jack’ (2022) and ‘Galilee’ (2025). ‘Trumped by Grace’ was shortlisted for the Australian Christian Book of the Year.

David B. Milne, “Water Forms.” c. 1916