The River

I sit and watch the water go by
In its depths, images from my mind swirl
The water mesmerizes me by giving life to the beauty around me
Trees are green and the banks a fertile black
The fish swim through the water – faster downstream than up
I hear the crickets and the birds

A canoe goes by
They do not see me
I am a part of the land, blended with the underbrush and dirt
Silence
No sign that man exists here
A breeze rustles the stiff palmettos behind me
Across the water there are woods
Thick
I cannot see into them
I cannot see what they contain

The lighter pebbles on the bottom move with the current and flow on to the Gulf

This place clears my mind and gives me peace
I am free again
Here, I can think and dream
The silence comforts me
When I am here alone, I think of others and how they would like it here
I am at home here

The trees are my walls, the bank my floor, and the balconies of the trees my ceiling

The life of the river surrounds me
When the animals come I watch them too

It is downstream
The wind blows upstream
It does not see or hear me
The breeze hits the leaves and it bounds away
I see the hawk

I see the small handprints in the dirt close to the water
The larger pawprints further up made last night
They come here to drink too
The breeze is cool as it lifts my hair from my neck
I close my eyes and listen to the life that I am a part of
My mind’s eye comes alive and I see the leaves rustle

The sun touches my back and I feel it
Its warm hand massaging me
I open my eyes
The sun does a ballet upon the water as it flows
I am the only human element here
A log floats by turning over and over and over
Again the leaves chatter with excitement
The wind moves my hair above me
A cloud scuttles across the sky

I shiver
It’s time to go now
I have had my share of God’s peace