Linda Studley

The Bottom of the Waterfall

Time never backs up
but sometimes, if we’re lucky,
it slows down a bit
in back eddies and calm pools
where reflections can be seen.

But gaze too deeply
or cling to protruding roots
and currents of time
will wrench your fingers free and
toss you in the stream again.

Swim, damn you, just swim.
Don’t look over your shoulder.
It isn’t a race.
If you swim you have a chance
to chart your own course through time.

Time is the river.
You can swim or you can sink.
Hold your nose and dive
and discover hidden depths
or drift and enjoy the view.

If one day we meet
and the stream carries you past
I will laugh and shout
“I’ll meet you at the bottom
of the waterfall, my friend.”

#142

Roughly a multi versed ‘Tanka’ – each verse consisting of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables.