poeTRY (Volume 2)

BREATH OF THE RIVER (WOODWILD)

BREATH OF THE RIVER

You're privy to the secrets

she's carried since her birth

those everlasting stories

of men who work the earth.

You hear her murmuring sallies

the ripples of her soul

like the crying of an infant

as the distant church bells toll.

You've seen her winter tantrums

heard her laughter in the spring

enjoyed her summer laziness

but autumn's everything.

Gold clouds float on eddies

there's yellow on the foam

copper tints the backwater

her bosom bears them home.

You've watched her race the shallows

where her pebble bed doth shine

you've viewed her sparkling birth place

and watched her join the brine.

You've been there by the mill pond

where the weeping willows fall

and watched the old wheel turning

as the otters wildly call.

You've shared her with the wild things

enjoyed her eternal song

dangled your toes at midnight

cavorted all day long.

She nursed you through your childhood

welcomed you in age

gave smiles and memories gladly

wrote her name across your page.

Today you stand beside her

watch the mist rise o'er her brow

and think of all you've seen

between the then and now.

All the places you have traveled

all the people you have met

but if there's anything quite like her

you haven't found it yet.

The woodland and the river

both hold your heart in keep

they influence your waking

they smile upon your sleep.