Far from the Rappahannock， the silent

    Danube moves along toward the sea.

    The brown and green Nile rolls slowly

    Like the Niagara's welling descent.

    Tractors stood on the green banks of the Loire

    Near where it joined the Cher.

    The St. Lawrence prods among black stones

    And mud. But the Arno is all stones.

    Wind ruffles the Hudson's

    Surface. The Irawaddy is overflowing.

    But the yellowish， gray Tiber

    Is contained within steep banks. The Isar

    Flows too fast to swim in， the Jordan's water

    Courses over the flat land. The Allegheny and its boats

    Were dark blue. The Moskowa is

    Gray boats. The Amstel flows slowly.

    Leaves fall into the Connecticut as it passes

    Underneath. The Liffey is full of sewage，

    Like the Seine， but unlike

    The brownish-yellow Dordogne.

    Mountains hem in the Colorado

    And the Oder is very deep， almost

    As deep as the Congo is wide.

    The plain banks of the Neva are

    Gray. The dark Sa？ne flows silently.

    And the Volga is long and wide

    As it flows across the brownish land. The Ebro

    Is blue， and slow. The Shannon flows

    Swiftly between its banks. The Mississippi

    Is one of the world's longest rivers， like the Amazon.

    It has the Missouri for a tributary.

    The Harlem flows amid factories

    And buildings. The Nelson is in Canada，

    Flowing. Through hard banks the Dubawnt

    Forces its way. People walk near the Trent.

    The landscape around the Mohawk stretches away；

    The Rubicon is merely a brook.

    In winter the Main

    Surges； the Rhine sings its eternal song.

    The Rh？ne slogs along through whitish banks

    And the Rio Grande spins tales of the past.

    The Loir bursts its frozen shackles

    But the Moldau's wet mud ensnares it.

    The East catches the light.