> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://poetry101.love/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# the mississippi river empties into the gulf
- URL: https://poetry101.love/the-mississippi-river-empties-into-the-gulf/
- Published: 2022-01-23T15:57:22.000Z
- Updated: 2022-01-23T15:57:22.000Z
- Description: by Lucille Clifton
- Author: Melissa Anderson
- Tags: Lucille Clifton, #Import 2026-11-04 19:11

and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,  
none of them emptying anything,  
all of them carrying yesterday  
forever on their white tipped backs,  
all of them dragging forward tomorrow.  
it is the great circulation  
of the earth’s body, like the blood  
of the gods, this river in which the past  
is always flowing. every water  
is the same water coming round.  
everyday someone is standing on the edge  
of this river, staring into time,  
whispering mistakenly:  
only here. only now.

Clifton, Lucille. [The Terrible Stories: Poems](https://www.google.com/books/edition/The%5FTerrible%5FStories/9hx-QgAACAAJ?kptab=getbook&ref=poetry101.love). United States, BOA Editions, 1996.