DEATH IS A CREEK, BACKWARD FLOWING was first published in George Scarbrough’s book. The Course is Upward, (E.P. Dutton, 1951) and was also included on George Scarbrough’s reading tape, Ice Storm and Other Poems Read by the Poet, George Scarbrough (Iris Audio Publications, 1997.)
DEATH IS A CREEK, BACKWARD FLOWING
For my Father, W. O. Scarbrough who died May 10, 1950
Running back along his tributaries to his source,
Feeling among his ferns and grasses, where the blue
Flag sings to his willow in the headlands (the course
Is upward here) he comes once more to view
The dripping springs that fed his downward fall
Into the lower hills, onto the joyous plain
Where in his summers lay a golden pall
Hiding the broken path, from roar to hush again
Concealed. Stalemated, staggered, now he comes,
Out of his arms the waves retreating; nearer birth,
The full , fine flowing of him stilly hums;
Left of his presence, only his lines on earth.
Make no mistake about it, in his climb
Passed upon pastures was a change of time.
© George Scarbrough 1951, 1997.
George Scarbrough comments: "This poem concerns the drawing of the life force back to its original source, the spring high in the mountains to which all its tributaries eventually return. A retreating wave, perhaps, says it better."