Creek Life

 I need to be by water now and then

when life's hard edges scratch the underbelly

of my soul. Hot sand beneath my feet

connecting me to waves that welcome

with a cool embrace. Breeze-kissed lakes

with surfaces bejeweled by the sun and

celebrated by a family of cranes. It's fun to

speed along a river underneath a brilliant sky,

mindful of the skier that I pull, impatient

for my turn to ride the wake. These choices

are accessible (the last, perhaps now relegated

to my memory). This morning, though, I yearn

for something out of reach, the creek

I miss, the happy gurgling dance of water

over rock, the shock of icy feet. Self-confined to

shallows, 'cause I know that underneath

the ocean's surface there be monsters.

Lakes and rivers may hold perils too.

But creeks, their liquid energy that teems

with life and cheer have little time for

drama. If the oceans are our mothers,

and if lakes and rivers are our kin,

then creeks must be our lovers.

Creeks must be our friends.

(c) Ellen Gillette, 2023