My river is a goddess, Verbeia,
she of the snakes, she who will bend and turn,
a twisting kelpie creature who will take
tribute, assailing with onslaughts of rain
so the earth will provide its sacrifice.
In return, she brings life in verdancy,
in return, she turns, dancing her small stones
against the more sizeable, slow smoothing
so now we may scarcely discern her name,
Verbeia, and those substantial stones
fall.
Cara L McKee is from Ilkley in Yorkshire and lives on the west coast of Scotland. Her poetry has been published in places including Gutter Magazine, Under the Radar, and Coin Operated Press’ zines. Her chapbook is First Kiss (Maytree Press, 2020), and you can still get a signed copy on Cara’s website: http://skeletonarchitecture.blogspot.com/.
Instagram: @caralmckee
Twitter: @caralmckee