Watching the Water by Imtiaz Dharker

31 Days of Poetry: Day 28.

For the month of August I’m participating in The Sealey Challenge and attempting to read a book of poetry every day (or at least a poem or two), and every day I’ve been sharing a poem with you. I hope this series affords you an opportunity to discover some new favourites or revisit some old ones.

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The 28th of August’s poem is ‘Watching the Water’ by Imtiaz Dharker, which was published in her 2014 collection, ‘Over the Moon’ (Bloodaxe Books).

Watching the Water

Watch this trick that water does.
It never fails to draw attention
to itself. Every face has turned to look at it

as if it were a work of art.
Each one of these men and women,
though sitting quite apart, is still a part

of the river's audience.
Even the dog has turned to gaze
at the performance

of water-light and the dazzle it creates,
thrown back over rapt faces,
sprinkled on these lounging bodies,

turning them to legend.
What if behind them, tall towers
are flying flags of smoke

that smudge a perfect sky, what if
behind their backs the sirens cry?
These water-watchers have resolutely turned

away from daily hourly drudgery
to contemplate the dip and swish
of passing riverboats.

Their shoulders and their backs
are washed by light.
They are transfixed,

watching hard but not quite seeing
how blue and orange meet
and take each other by surprise,

how colours can materialise
out of the sky's right ear
and how they can be made

to sparkle
in this trick that water does,
the one the artist knows.

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I love when poets put words to their observations of the miraculous beauty of nature simply existing and, as someone who could spend hours watching the water, I loved this poem’s focus on the particular magic of it. Because it really is quite magical, isn’t it?

If you ever need a reminder that everything is always changing- including us- notice how we never really see the same body of water twice: how even the most subtle breeze might alter its direction; how each season creates its own unique spectacle; how every moment of every day offers something new.

And if ever it feels as though the world has been plunged into an unending darkness, watch the water- see how it sparkles, see how there is light still.

See you on day twenty-nine,

Tasnim