And The River Flows On

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 dVerse Prosery: Luminous Accountings 

The Prosery Challenge: Your prose—fiction or nonfiction—may be no more than 144 words. You must use the given line, and you may not alter the words, change the word order, or insert words into the line. However, you may change the punctuation. 

The line is from King of the River, by Stanley Kunitz

. . . and the iridescent image swims

through a mirror that flows.”

Stanley Kunitz (The Atlantic, 1970)

Rogue River, OR © Lisa Smith Nelson 2026

Try as I might, I can’t seem to hold on to my memories.  They move, sliding away through my fingers, quicksilver between moments, leaving me with nothing.  No, not nothing.  Worse than nothing.  Nothing would be painless. They leave, not reflections, but vague images, faded photographs, faces silvered with age.  Yet I do remember there were once memories.  That’s what stings.  I promised never to forget.  Even your face is fading, hazy, wavering.  “… and the iridescent image swims through a mirror that flows,” rippling, becoming indistinct and smaller as it’s carried downstream. 


©2026 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved  

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