Caught by the River

The Present Topography: Landscape Found

9th July 2017

An incomplete survey of the landmass, drawn on foot by Maxim Peter Griffin

1.
People drifting, following the tracks – mammoth ways northward
Across what becomes the Channel and the German Sea into uplands
A fresh territory – the hunting is good

The glaciers are receding and these grasses make for good grazing
Stay quarter of a day behind the herd and the eating will be plentiful
The animals will follow where the water is fresh

Where the rivers flow – east and east still – to the great marshes
Where the earth was crushed into stone – those hills have the raw materials
The makings of tools – a lump of flint offers many uses

2.

After night, the sun rises beyond the plains
Same as it ever was
Over an endless delta where the fishing is good

The ice won’t come again – not in these lifetimes
This is the time of the sun
The longest spring – perpetual May

And now the people are here
The horizon can be perceived
The land claimed from where the moon sets to where the dawn begins

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Maxim Griffin on Caught by the River / on Twitter