Follow the River

Follow the River

It flows and knows.

It's okay to be still,
okay to sit,
okay to gaze,
okay to breathe easy,
okay not to notice,
and okay not to do
whatever calls you away
from your precious being.

The river moves slowly,
simultaneously source and mouth.
It travels more quickly
through the shallows,
and becomes a swirling eddy
going down in the deep.

The river flows steady,
night into day,
winter into summer.

The river knows time
is nothing but a bucket
for holding water.

---

You can be in terrible shape,
and if you take a three-hour walk
through the forest and along the river,
you're simply not the same as when you started out.
~ Jim Harrison