Neches

John Rutherford

May 21, 2023

The rotting boards jut from the bottom,

burned out, abandoned dock works,

left behind like cracked teeth.

The water never loses its oil-slick

sheen, purple and green above

forty feet of freshwater draft.

The life remains, though,

little plovers darting through

for leftover bait at the boat launch.

Downriver, Eagle Parana rises

As her cargo is offloaded,

her anchor lines rust-marked. 

Black crude fills an 18-wheeler,

soon upriver to Jefferson

and refined to red diesel.

This little ditch,

little-known artery of the world,

industry on both sides.

John Rutherford is a poet writing in Beaumont, Texas. Since 2018, he has been an employee in the Department of English at Lamar University.