The River

The river is always changing

Its water and its song
From moment to moment
Through an honest conversation
With the season and its weather

I was welcomed here once
Beside the river bank
When summer flow
In the sunshine
Was just the way
I imagined it would be
The moment before I arrived

Now, I come upon the river again
This time, unthinking and unexpectant
I never imagined the river in flood
Before I reached it
My plan was to pass beyond it
But it has been raining hard
And the river is wild against its jagged bank
With water still rising as if angered

The river has forgotten its song
And the character of its river bed
Is buried under a grey sky torrent
Collected and channeled to the ocean
All in such a hurry
That in its rush, the river forgot to bring
Its own crystal melody of water over rock

Soil bitten from stream banks
Unheeded and unswallowed
Has choked and colored the water
Trees with roots and branches
Still in leaf
Are carried like lost children
Back home from a far off war
To a silent sea of loss