Study of Falling Water – a poem by Helen Steenhuis

Study of Falling Water


In the village when the sun 
has passed over my house,
I go to a place where women 
once washed clothes, and listen 
to the sounds of falling water.
The day hot on my skin, 
the stone smooth and worn, 
I imagine them meeting 
with woven baskets 
a hundred years ago.

Water flows through the village 
into a marble basin.
It falls in a heavy irregular stream —
water from the fountain endlessly falling.  
I take in its random pulse until
I am the fountain and the sound,
no longer battling against hard edges,
making my way gracefully, 
around and beyond.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Helen Steenhuis has been living near Aix-en-Provence since 1989 working as an English language teacher. Her poems have appeared in The French Literary Review, Equinox: A Poetry Journal,The Poetry Library: Southbank Centre, London, and Cumberland River Review.