The poem
I will grieve alone, As I strolled alone, years ago, down along The Ohio shore. I hid in the hobo jungle weeds Upstream from the sewer main, Pondering, gazing.
I saw, down river, At Twenty-third and Water Streets By the vinegar works, The doors open in early evening. Swinging their purses, the women Poured down the long street to the river And into the river.
I do not know how it was They could drown every evening. What time near dawn did they climb up the other shore, Drying their wings?
For the river at Wheeling, West Virginia, Has only two shores: The one in hell, the other In Bridgeport, Ohio.
And nobody would commit suicide, only To find beyond death Bridgeport, Ohio.
this poem is the best poem i have ever read before.
this poem helped me alot in school
While not his most regarded work, the poems from Shall We Gather at The River are among my favorites. Wright was far from reconciliation with the Ohio Valley by the time of this poem, and his stunning imagery of 'fallen angels' in Wheeling, West Virginia represents one of his more straight forward yet no less harsh criticisms about the region.