Brown Girl Dreaming

The poem “rivers” in the first section of this memoir refers to the Hocking River, a tributary of the Ohio River. In a more metaphorical way, it also refers to the journeys of Woodson’s family. The poem is in the section of the memoir where Woodson and her family have returned to Ohio from South Carolina, just as the Hocking “circles back, joins up with / the Ohio again” (38). Woodson’s return to Ohio is only temporary, however; her parents will soon separate, and her mother will take Woodson and her older siblings to live in South Carolina.

The image of the Hocking River suggests an ongoing cycle of departure and arrival. It continually splits off from the Ohio River and then returns to it, “as if to say / I’m sorry / […] I’m home again” (38-39). In a similar way, the Woodson family departs from and returns to their home turf, first Ohio and then South Carolina. Once they have moved once more to New York City, South Carolina becomes their old home. The Woodson children continue to spend summers there with their grandparents, however, even while they feel increasingly estranged from the place.

Woodson describes the Ohio River in the poem as “run[ning] north from Virginia until / it’s safely away / from the South” (38).