Company Barge

Tarred black from stem to stern, the barge lies long and low on the lower Elv, flat-bottomed and broad. Forward, the open salt hold is heaped with sacks piled white almost to the gunwale. A canvas cover stretches over the cargo hold amidships, roped down over crates and bales. At the stern sits a low timber deckhouse with a stovepipe and two small square windows. Faded blue and ochre paint runs in a band along its side. A towing mast stands near the bow, its wood grey and split, cut with rows of small notches that run down past the oldest coat of paint. Under a patched awning, a plain bench faces the bank. Flat light. Willows lean over the water on both sides. No wind. Somewhere downstream, the river turns toward the next landing.