SONG OF THE RIVER

Stamp Falls, Port Alberni

photo by Dan Aman,

Heart of Vancouver Island

This is the river where Pup and I so often took

our wild hearts, when we lived in Port Alberni

Song of the river wild,

Song of the rapids leaping

Through the chiseled rock-walled chasm

Green with weeping,

A plunging torrent

To the ocean seeping

Song of the sea-green foam

Song of the white froth dancing

Sun-dappled baby wave-tops prancing

In the sunshine, all my dreams

Romancing.

Song of the green rock wall,

A vessel for the river's journey,

Guiding the flow along the channel churning

To the ocean and as it's

Returning.

Song of the tall green trees

Rootbound and stoic in the deep crevasses

Rooted in bedrock holding up the mountain,

Sentinels for every year

that passes

Song of the laughing brook

Below the rapids green, swirling and babbling

Huge salmon leap,

Fall back in shallows dabbling,

Plunge forth to lunge again,

Leaping and scrabbling

Song of the river wild,

You sing my tattered soul a new song,

Bless the silver beauty of this new day,

Make me know the path I'm on

Is not wrong.

Song of the seasoned soul

That knows the underlying message

Of the river:

Flow with me,

Not against me as we journey;

Travel lightly,

Not a taker,

But a giver.

Every fall, the salmon make their way up the rushing rapids and make a mighty leap up the rocky falls, on their annual migration. It is an amazing sight. So much determination to live, against great odds. Like all of life.

I wrote this poem in 2002, and decided to share it this weekend with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United. Do join us on Sunday morning and enjoy some poetry with your morning coffee!