That Wise, Wise River

That Wise, Wise River 7/26/2010
The river flows
Forever full,
Ever emptying,
Never empty.
Restless water
Filling the banks
Like an over-watered potted plant,
The channel air too laden down
With one eternal load,

Yet comfortably consistent and calm,
Fluidly flowing forever
From vastness to eternity,
The mountains to the sea.
Facing boulders as it ever has,
Meeting force with force,
And treasuring the honeyed valleys,
Forever found anew.

Indeed,
Every droplet sees each rock and
Every arching bridge and aspen tree
With wonder from the first,
Though every ripple passes by
The land as ever it did,
The same farmyards
The same cottonwoods
The same wide river
Forever fresh and clear and new,
With swimming eyes of tears
Astonished at the shining splendor
Of many passing years.

May I that wise, wise river be,
Sprung from the river of life,
That ever as I gaze upon
That same old battered cross
My eyes are new and see afresh
What I have ever known.