River Woman

a river
  dressed as woman
                  in garb both
                   reflective and enticing
                sinuous
     and singing

                                         but here
                                                 the knotted current
                                                                    swirls
                                                                       swells around
                                                               boulders

                                 inflates
                                         bank to bank
                                                      in robust
                                                               effusion
                                                   ballooning
                                         distended

               here she does not
                       sing; her murmur
                                             is a roar
                                                  and the bank's
                                         etched deep
                             with painful ruts
                      and plunging
                          slips

               until quite suddenly
                                        the tumult
                                                 unties
                                                     the froth
                                             fizzes out
                                          and she
                             passes again
                          to tranquil
                     melody