When I chose the photo for my submission to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge — Focus — I couldn’t resist looking through several other photos of a second river that I enjoyed during the same trip last fall. As I thought about that river, I also thought about the poem I wrote last April that shared some of my thoughts and feelings connected with it. So I went back and read the poem again, and I enjoyed it even more than when I wrote it. It goes without saying that I love this poem, mostly because it so honestly describes my response to the beauty and power of God’s creation and its ability to influence us. So — I decided I’d just re-post it and share it with my readers again. After all, many of you were not a part of my blogging family way back in April. Any of you who aren’t into poetry reruns can feel free to skip this post with my blessing.

ALONG THE RIVER

The sun is playing hide and seek with clouds
Along the river.
The clouds are gray, but friendly, soft, and free
Along the river.

I move unhampered by the flirting breeze
Along the river,
Breathing deeply of the moistened earth
Along the river.

Quiet now invades my mind and soul
Along the river.
I’m letting go of tumbling, troubled thoughts
Along the river.

My past recedes; my future quiet rests
Along the river,
And water speaks to waters deep within,
Along the river.

I sit and contemplate historic days
Along the river:
The generations served by this same stream
Along the river.

And sense that I belong to something great
Along the river:
A part of something bigger than myself
Along the river.

And far beyond my power to understand,
Along the river,
An elemental knowing I am known —
And I am loved —
By the Creator of the river.

~~~