The Ancient Modern
Nile / Joshua Alan Sturgill
If the river is a god,
it will be both: river and god,
water and teacher,
servant and theophany.
If the river is a god, it purifies
because it first receives
a sacrifice of gratitude. But
if the river is only river,
who will object
when it is blasphemed,
called mere matter
—a resource, a solvent?
If the river is a god, we fear it
but we bless it, too: imitating rivers
in our poetry, anticipating
rivers in our blood.
If the river is thing,
disputed, possessed and
dammed, it no longer washes
or nourishes us. Instead, it leaves
on stones and in our mouths
an acrid stain, rising and falling
each season
less holy and less pure
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