Thompson Emate | + Follow Poet |
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National Poetry Month

Ghost, River, Shiver, Gaze, Wicked, Cold


Someone stood by the river,
I was glad I wasn’t going to be the only one,
I was to come with my grandfather,
But he had been unwell.

I greeted the man,
He only nodded in response,
I gazed at him but he seemed oblivious to my scrutiny,
He was busy with his net,
A cold wave of unease washed through me.

As I pushed my boat to the river,
Suddenly the man offered me his net,
I shook my head,
His hand was still insistently stretched toward me,
I looked into his eyes and saw a glimmer of kindness,
I shivered as I took the net, 
I silently prayed that the spirits of my ancestors guide me.

I thrust my boat further into the river and paddled to the centre,
I looked in the direction of the man,
He waved at me,
I cast the net into the water
And noticed a continuous ripple on the surface,
I tried to pull out the net and noticed it was heavy,
I summoned the strength of the spirits,
The catch was sudden and massive,
I glanced toward the direction where the stranger had been,
He was no longer there,
“He wasn’t a wicked ghost after all,” I thought with a smile,



April 14, 2025.

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Darlene De Beaulieu Date: 4/16/2025 11:40:00 AM Hello Thompson Emate, How is the boy going to load the catch onto his boat,now that his load is too heavy? blessings my ffriend. /Darlene/ Login to Reply Darlene De Beaulieu Date: 4/20/2025 9:54:00 AM Hell0 Thompson Emate, Oh I am glad that the weight of the fish was not too weighty. Happy Easter Thompson. My friend. Darlene Thompson Emate Date: 4/19/2025 5:19:00 PM The catch is not too weighty for his boat. Thank you, Darlene, for stopping by. I'm honoured.