By Sandvlei shore

Margaret Clough


Because I now have time to sit and stare
at waving reeds and gently flowing water,
I am becoming like the river as it nears its end.
After its headlong rush down granite cliffs,
and its busy journey through
the vineyards, and the fields,
arriving at
a wide and sandy beach, it’s forced
to slow its pace, to spread a little and to drop
its load of silty litter and to let,
the ripples on its surface smooth away,
so it can hold reflections
of the slow clouds,
floating by.



From: McGregor Poetry Anthology 2013
Published by African Sun Press in association with the McGregor Poetry Festival
ISBN number 978-0-620-62302-5

The Poet:

Margaret Clough is a retired soil chemist and science teacher. She has published one collection, At Least the Duck Survived; and her poems have been published variously in Litnet, South Africa Writing, Carapace and New Contrast.

Previously published:
Margaret Clough: By Sandvlei Shore and What are you doing this evening from At Least the Duck Survived. Modjaji Books, Cape Town, 2011. ISBN 978-1-920397-85-2. Surprises on the Internet from Carapace Volume 94 Cape Town.