poem

The Gravity of Water

Glaciers are just heavy rivers

Flowing at deliberate rates

Swollen beyond their banks

Rain and snow are also kinds of river—

Which is water in its most natural state,

Feeling the slant and flowing downhill,

Falling until finding a level plain.

But even here it isn’t done,

Dissolving the very earth

That would cradle its final fall.

All rivers are handmaidens to gravity,

Invisible Circe whispering

Runes from eager seashores.

Man himself is 70% water

And we too are always trending downhill.

I can’t help it if I’m just 

Water flowing through you,

Following the laws of nature

Finding the cracks

In this fragile rock

Seeking a level place to pool

Before the ground gives way

I’d like to be the clear mountain spring 

Somewhere deep in your catacombs,

A holy place of respite,

Your secret place of retreat
When lips and tongue are dry.

Come kneel on my soft

Verdant bank as much as you like.

Cup your hands together and sip

Whenever it seems all the water

Has run clear out of you.

2/9/22