Always Beside a River

Always Beside a River Daniel Wolff (bio) Keywords loss, history, remnants, return, rivers, death, hope Flourishing centers with enormous earthworks … extensive trade network … sophisticated ceramic tradition … all named for Mordecai Hopewell, the farmer upon whose land the site was mapped … —Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History If you're gone for good—if you're history—I'll know to search along rivers.I'll look for bones, trace foundations,piece old shapes from shards. But time will take those, too.Strangers arriving with children will runthe length of the ruins for hide-and-seek,squeals of living delight. And if you return? If we conquer hurt?If corn grows back in broken fields?You know how a river, seen from a distance,is the speeded-up movement of dirt? I've promised the dead to continue the search.What else can we do but hope well? End Page 193 Daniel Wolff daniel wolff's fourth collection of poems, More Poems About Money (Four Way Books), came out in 2022. His poetry has appeared in lots of journals, including The Paris Review, APR, and Raritan. He's done collaborations with sculptors, choreographers, photographers, and songwriters. And then there's the half-dozen nonfiction books, helping produce three documentary films with director Jonathan Demme, and recently directing a fourth, Guardians of the Flame. Copyright © 2024 The Massachusetts Review, Inc.