Poems by Susanne von Rennenkampff
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Sleeping by the Athabasca River, Late September
by Susanne von Rennenkampff
From Canary Fall 2024
Susanne lives in the Pembina River watershed in north-central Alberta, Canada. Only a few kilometers north of here the Pembina joins the mighty Athabasca, a wonderful river for canoeing in summer and especially early fall when poplars in flaming gold are reflected in the water. We get to see deer and moose, bald eagles, sometimes black bears, and lots of waterfowl on our canoe trips.
After dark, the river raises its voice,
or maybe I just listen more closely,
only the thin skin of the tent
between me and the night.
After a while, the susurrus of slow rain.
I think of the morning, of getting up
to a wet camp, how to rekindle the fire.
Again I’m ahead of myself.
It is autumn, nights are long.
A coyote’s call cast into the silence,
sent back by another, far away; once,
very late, the honking of geese. This music
I know well. Soon the rain grows quiet, too.
The night is at rest, only the river
tugging a snag.
© Susanne von Rennenkampff