Minnesota Poetry: Barton Sutter’s “Stony River”
Seasons are often used as metaphors for the stages of our lives, and Barton Sutter uses the metaphor to particularly good effect in his poem "Stony River." Sutter has lived in Duluth since 1987, and his poem recalls for me fall trips to the Boundary Waters; the rhythm of the writing feels reminiscent of paddling through the water. Upon reading "Stony River," I was reminded of Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-picking." Read them both out loud, and see what you think. Then get out there and enjoy some of this summer weather, before you find it's gone.
Stony River
I am trying to remember
That blue bend in the river,
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The pines and yellow grasses.
How quickly my life passes.
The air out there was incense,
Essence of September.
Was it peppermint and anise?
I really can't remember.
I am trying to remember
The way the water glittered,
Sunlight like a benediction,
But that afternoon is gone.
I am trying to remember
Those minnows bright as embers,
How like sparks they flashed and vanished
In the pool below the rapids.
I heard a bird or two, as I remember,
The splashing of my paddle in the river,
The trickle when I lifted it, and then there were
Those rumors in the breeze that made me shiver.
I am trying to remember
That eagle soaring over
And the shorebirds by the stones,
But those creatures have all flown.
Every autumn now I tell myself; Remember
To get out there on the river
Under golden leaves that cling to crooked branches.
We only get so many chances.
That daytrip through the jack pines and the willows
Is fading like the music of a cello.
Nothing in this life will last forever,
Though I hoped it might while floating down the river.
- "Stony River" by Barton Sutter, as it appears in his collection Farewell to the Starlight in Whiskey, published by BOA Editions. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher.