Home
A nonprofit organization dedicated to storytelling in the digital age

The River

by Charlie Smith

I was supposed to fly down to see my brother,
but I got sidetracked by some girls
and was two days late. The place was shut up
and my brother was gone to the river to be
with the mangroves & the knobby-headed egrets.

Please log in to view or print the full story online or in PDF format.
If you are new to Narrative, signing up is FREE and easy.
Poem of the WeekCharlie Smith

Charlie Smith was born in Georgia and served in the Peace Corps before graduating from Duke University and the University of Iowa. His seven poetry collections include Red Roads, selected for the National Poetry Series and Great Lakes New Poets Award; Heroin and Other Poems; and Word Comix . Smith has also written seven novels, among them Cheap Ticket to Heaven, Chimney Rock, and Three Delays (Harper Perennial, 2010), as well as a collection of novellas, Crystal River.


30Poems100C.png

Poems of the Week: 2009-2010

Poems of the Week: 2009-2010

Reader Comments

  • A sad, beautiful poem that feels like a dream. Love, even...
  • The speaker's conversation with the broker reminded me of a conversation...
  • The chill caused by Smith's haunting poetic language of inference and...
Make a comment
  • Print
  • Share
    Close
    • Social Web
    • E-Mail
    • Link Codes
    Delicious DeliciousDigg DiggStumbleUpon StumbleUponPropeller PropellerReddit RedditMagnoliacom MagnoliacomNewsvine NewsvineFurl FurlFacebook FacebookGoogle GoogleYahoo YahooTechnorati TechnoratiIcerocket Icerocket
    Enter one address or multiple addresses separated with commas.
Submit Your
Poem of the Week
Join Narrative.
It's FREE!
  • About Narrative
  • Donate
  • ADVERTISE
  • Archive
  • Submit Your Work
  • My Account
  • Log In
  • A Nonprofit Organization