Death of young son by drowning By Margaret Atwood

DEATH OF A YOUNG SON BY DROWNING

He, who navigated with success
the dangerous river of his own birth
once more set forth

on a voyage of discovery
into the land I floated on
but could not touch to claim.

His feet slid on the bank,
the currents took him;
he swirled with ice and trees in the swollen water

and plunged into distant regions,
his head a bathysphere;
through his eyes' thin glass bubbles

he looked out, reckless adventurer
on a landscape stranger than Uranus
we have all been to and some remember.

There was an accident; the air locked,
he was hung in the river like a heart.
They retrieved the swamped body,

cairn of my plans and future charts,
with poles and hooks
from among the nudging logs.

It was spring, the sun kept shining, the new grass
leapt to solidity;
my hands glistened with details.

After the long trip I was tired of waves.
My foot hit rock. The dreamed sails
collapsed, ragged.

                 I planted him in this country
                 like a flag.

When reading this poem it's hard not to have deep thoughts of sadness, well that's what it's like for me anyways. Can you imagine losing a loved one to a raging river? I personally love this poem because it relates to something that happened to a dear friend of mine only a little over a year ago. He was 19 years old, so full of life, so much to offer to the world. He also died too young from drowning."His feet slid on the bank,/the currents took him;/he swirled with ice and trees in the swollen water" These lines in the poem describe exactly what happened to both boys, they strike with the most power when reading the poem. They were alive and suddenly in the blink of an eye they were gone. Nothing left but "swamped" bodies, it took so long to find my friends body, but people didn't stop searching, a week later his father found his body washed up on the earth. No parent should ever have to find their child dead. "he looked out, reckless adventurer/on a landscape stranger than Uranus/we have all been to and some remember." These lines represent how fearless the boy is in the poem and carefree he was about life, just taking the moment and going with it. Like the boy in the poem my friend was the same. "I planted him in this country / like a flag." the last two lines end the poem abruptly, which has a greater meaning, such that a life of a young child should never be that short and that they should out live their parents. For me this poem is a reminder of my dear friend it makes me appreciate my life more than anything, and live accordingly with no regrets because you never know when your life can be snatched away from you.