• IF I LOVED MY BODY LIKE A RIVER

A river is always worthy
Never once have I questioned this

Bodies of water move through the land
Move through the land with a quiet force, a roaring grace

I could never accept the way I move through the world
Almost like water but never quite

Never quite enough to be unquestionably worthy

There are times when the creek runs low and quiet
Seeming to stagnate in comparison to their spring floods
In those times I greet still pools; revel in their pace

Yet in certain seasons, like the creeks who run slow
My body too grows tired and still, asking to gather and hold like salmon beneath falls
Knowing to wait for rain before they try flying up falling water

Yet in the same breath as I find peace in still streams,
The very same breath as I nod to the wisdom of a salmon’s stronghold
I grow impatient with a body begging for rest

If I loved my body like a river
The wars inside of me might trickle to an end

I have always been sure any living thing (that is everything) is worthy of peace
I have always been thirsty to be a part of anything

If I loved my body like a river
I would know I have never been apart from anything

If I loved my body like a river
I would know there’s no difference between us

A river is as I am worthy of carving a way
with a quiet force, a roaring grace.

Carving our way seaward
shaping everything we flow into and away from.