sms (11/13/82)
The bright sun, and green trees
swaying over the brown stream.
Blotches of green
that are
passive fish of seaweed
slowly swimming their way
also swaying their leaves
slower than the trees
with the same motionless effort/effect
There is a free floating fish
swimming down stream
as its neighbors try to catch it
they touch, and drift on.
To those anchored to the mud
it would seem that they are striving
to get up stream.
making steady progress
in the water made brown by their ancestors
While the drifters fall behind
no mud to call their own
no position to be attached to.
The trees stand over
the agitation and despair
taking in the sun, soil, and water.
To the stream,
it is the growth
that is set in its way
attached to the slime
that remains behind
while the unattached drifter
is free to progress
down with the stream
to the rivers, lakes, and ocean
held back by neither neighbors or possessions
but ongoing to new experiences.
Such is the lesson of my muddy stream
that I see today.