Act: Inspiration

Stories Made of Rivers

By Joanna Pocock, originally published by Dark Mountain Project

November 22, 2017

1. Civilisation

The first story I was told about rivers can be summed up like this: there is direct line from the Sumerian Ziggurat of Ur to the Chrysler Building. I was around nine.

2. Civilisation II

Rivers allowed us to grow food, store it, build houses, libraries, museums, cities and empires. I was maybe ten when I heard this one.

You can read the rest of this piece on the Dark Mountain site here.

Joanna Pocock

Joanna Pocock is an Irish-Canadian writer living in London via Montana. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, Orion Magazine, The Tahoma Literary Review, The Los Angeles Times, Distinctly Montana, Litro, Mslexia and 3:AM. She is currently writing a series of linked essays on extreme relationships between humans and their environments.

Tags: connection with nature, environmental degradation, environmental restoration projects, rivers

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