The Blackwood River -edited

[Caleb Murdock]

I should love to be the Blackwood
River, (that’ll be my wish)
refreshing anyone I could
and hugging all the fish.

This is a nice poem, and I like the fact that you are trying to make the language sound beautiful (not many writers try for beautiful-sounding language these days). I think the poem would be better if you had stronger images in it. Exactly what those should be, though, I couldn't tell you. Right now I'm working on a poem in which I describe a natural scene with lush language, but I don't think I should introduce my own poetry here. You might try mentioning either fish or animals or plants by name.

The final stanza strikes me as weak. It doesn't say much. You want the river to be "refreshing", and the river hugs the fish. Water hugging fish sounds a little strange, frankly.

As for "should/would", decide which meaning you want and then go with that word.

Keep working on the poem. As you do, better language will come to you. If you get frustrated, putting it aside for weeks or months may give you a new perspective.

(I notice that the forum software seems to be working differently.)