A riverboat chuffs and glides,
white lightbulbs strung and lit.
Muck and slush churn through the wheel
like so many viral drops.
Holiday songs on a speaker,
cups of kindness raised.
Revelers want a safe landing,
an easy passage there.
Will smiling faces candleshine
unmasked and unafraid?
Will dulcet voices sing unbound
the carols of green days?
Laughter peals around the bend,
the hum of engine fades.
Fog enshrouds the weeping trees.
The boat is gone, the river flows.
-Donna Isaac
published by The Poetry Society of Virginia Centennial Anthology, 2022
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