The River

Text:

© Grathy
As small drops
we start,
water pearls
born from the clouds above,

Inching forward
to join others like us
and create a simple stream,

Together we all move ahead
through the valleys of our lives,
enduring the many
turns of the tide,

Of our waters that ebb and flow
with the ways of the weather
crashing against boulders,
kissing the leaves of the heather,

And thus we continue
to survive,

Letting gravity have its way
we sometimes get tangled
sometimes bound in twigs,
sometimes we splash and spill
onto banks
to dry forever still.

But those who survive
continue to gather speed,
rushing, winding, forging ahead,
without heed,
sometimes resting
in a quiet riverbed,

Where there’s time to meditate
plan a course of action
or simply rely on fate.

And then gravity pulls us
downstream once again,

Now alone, you grab at straws
maybe alas you pause
at a winding bend, 

Or perhaps you bubble and foam
to stutter on your own,
alas, resting in a darkened pool,
hoping for a respite without end,

As then things begin to change,
slowly at first
you don’t even notice
that your body has been rearranged

but still you plunge ahead
not always in control
twisting, turning,
until you see that there’s
a waterfall,

And so you try
to swim aside,
but the stream is far too strong
over the cliff you fly
breathing, dancing
for time so lost
you long,

Into the wild wind you rise
finally on your way to die,
to soon return to clouds above
alas you finally sigh.