qarrtsiluni

Ripples slosh over your ankles, trying
to wash you up, say what can’t be done.
Those who love you do not want you
to take such risks. They are wrong.
There is no reason the color of water
cannot be the same as a skyway.

Do not be distracted if your image
drops below the surface. It is not you.
It is a shadow. Forget all the sounds
that have brought you here and now
leave. You have given up everything —
the ground under your feet. It is not
to be found now beneath this body

of water. Each day imagine yourself new.
Take one step before another, expect
dust to accumulate underfoot again,
slowly. Let whatever wants to be green
grow beneath you. Sometime in your life,
you may begin to walk with a pause,
but there is no reason to fall,
until you come to the end of your river.

by Paul Dickey

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