Rio Nuevo/New River ©Dawn Minott |an ekphrastic poem

On By Dawn MinottIn Poetry

Beforeword: Rio Nuevo lends its name to the small village on Jamaica’s north coastline where the river enters the sea. This idyllic place was the historical ground for the largest battle which shifted Jamaica from Spanish to English control in 1658 during the horrid days of colonial rule. This poem is to the beauty of Rio Nuevo’s continuous flow into the sea like Jamaica’s continuous quest to fully shed colonial legacy.

Rio Nuevo where river and sea entwine in liquid whispers
a lullaby sung
cascade down
trickles of longing
from ancient hills in the quiet
a liquid journey
the river dreams
endless yearning for the sea
the current’s ebb and flow
rhythmic dreams set sail
finding solace in sea’s embrace

Rio Nuevo, where destinies lie
in 1658, battles fought and won
the English, the Spanish did defy
Jamaica captured like pawn in colonial quest
a hamlet of heritage, memories set sail
today a village, quiet and quaint

Rio Nuevo, where the river dreams
of the vast, open sea
a liquid reverie
each ripple tells a tale
a journey traced in water’s embrace
whispers to the waves
of the vast, open sea
from source to mouth, a liquid symphony played
in nature’s stream
dreams take flight
the river yearns for the sea’s embrace
river and sea, a gentle collide

Afterword: . Linking history to water’s ebb and flow and the reminder of river’s yearning to give herself to the sea as a kind of letting go—that we humans must also do. A letting go of painful past, not so as to forget but so that it lives on in us free of hate or negativity like the freedom in the vast open sea.

Contributing to this week’s W3 prompt hosted by David—an ekphrastic poem inspired by any image of a body of water. 

2024 All Rights Reserved 
Photos: Sheldon Levene

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In creative solidarity, Dee

47 thoughts on “Rio Nuevo/New River ©Dawn Minott |an ekphrastic poem”

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    1. I love it when stars align in the blogosphere!!! There have been a few times when a prompt is aligned exactly to something I have in draft or cued to publish and it feels good to connect my creative thinking with another’s. Creative-connection I call it!!!

      Love your take on the prompt!!!! A beautiful series.

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    1. Absolutely Dawn. When I wrote this line I was thinking of the lives lost, the blood shed in that area by the river yet it flowed, now a community thrives in that very area still washed by the same river still flowing to the sea. Rivers hold our hiSTORY.

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  10. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

    This

    “in nature’s stream
    dreams take flight
    the river yearns for the sea’s embrace
    river and sea, a gentle collide”

    So much truth in those lines. So much hope too

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

              1. So glad this post was also educational Sarah. Thanks for stopping by and for providing a great prompt!! I had written that piece for a later posting but it was such a good fit for your prompt I moved up its publication date 🙂

                I’m following your blog. Looking forward to reading your work. Cheers 🙏🏽🙂🙏🏽

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                1. Thank you, Dawn. I’ve read through all the poem responses, and I’m selecting you as Poet of the Week! You’ll receive an email from David soon with more information. Congratulations and thanks again for your heartfelt and insightful poem! 💕

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  17. Hi David!!!! Thanks muchly. I am Jamaican and an advocate for true emancipation, including mental liberation, from all forms of oppression for all people every where hence my connection to this part of our history. Jamaica (Xaymaca) was first colonized by the Spaniards.
    This poem pays homage to a pivotal event in Jamaica’s history—the Battle of Rio Nuevo. The battle, the largest fought on Jamaican soil, was between the Spaniards and the English. After their defeat, the Spaniards freed their slaves and fled to Cuba. These freed slaves and their descendants became known as the Maroons. And Jamaica was handed over to the English, a pawn in colonial conquest.

    Rio Nuevo is a river that flows down from the hills, lending its name to the small village on the coastline where it meets the Caribbean Sea—the Rio Nuevo Bay—and where this battle raged. The River meeting the sea is captured in photos in the post by Jamaican photographer Sheldon Levine.

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    1. Dawn,

      MAZAL TOV! You are our new W3 PoW (Poet of the Week) for this week!

      I have e-mailed you at cr…gn@gmail.com with “next steps” – if you haven’t received my email, please email me directly at:

      DVDBGMLNY at GMAIL dot COM

      (sometimes my emails go into people’s spam folders)

      Thanks so much!

      Much love,
      David

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      Reply

  18. from source to mouth, a liquid symphony played
    in nature’s stream
    dreams take flight
    the river yearns for the sea’s embrace
    river and sea, a gentle collide

    Gorgeous, Dawn. Both the location and the poem! Such very, very vivid imagery! What is your personal relationship to this location, if I may ask?

    Much love,
    David

    P.S. Please don’t forget to share this URL on “Mister Linky” so that other W3 participants can easily find your poem!

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