Uncover the Sun

Working the River

 

Nature-made, the river

jumps the banks to curl

the earth in and under 

and down,

just as the sea 

reclaims its land

from that very first rising

out of its depths

 

Here, our house stands

bravely facing 

that watery uprising, 

and so

we work, bringing thick stumps

that once held 

towering trees aloft,

to edge the sinking earth

 

And then come boulders,

rough and heavy, to hold

the banks back, and hug

those former trees,

now stalwart soldiers

standing river guard,

while in between, 

the water seeps

 

Water always finds 

an opening,

and we invite it

to flow 

beyond our permitted

work, and the house,

man-made, sighs in relief

at its reprieve

 

At its best, work

does not destroy

but shores up, respects

nature’s pathways,

employs the labor

of man and tree and rock,

and preserves the life

of water, and of land

8/15/20

Posted in poetry.

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