BY THE RIVER
I see that it is possible to summon
a simple picture from out our existence
accompanying our soul in its journey
through this particular life.
Some image that cannot forsake itself
to the elements alone that foretell
what will be explored, while
arriving above them inclusively
to see that moment in time
when you are shown what you are
and destined to become, this lone figure
yourself, beside the curving road
made by that river’s momentary
passage through time.
Standing there at its border,
feeling and sensing, but not yet knowing
your invitation was made to be here, invisibly
to feel all alone, your past with its present
and future life —
That must truly be lived,
not in its ordinary particulars,
but under the command of forces
unknown to be your eternity,
yours alone to capture and hold again,
for your reentry into the world
of poetry and its truth once the time is right.