My feet
are neat
and show spirit's grounding
beside the river this autumn.
Sensitive and narrow,
I feel acutely the babbling brook next to which I stand.
And hesitate,
to feel the muddy squishing
of chilly mud between my toes.
A time of lovely cleansing.

An inch into the waters
and half and inch onto land,
the joyful pangs of the wet, wild flow
chill to the bone,
turning up the volume
on spirit's lively "Hello"
delivered by nature and a gift from the heart.

Birth and being birthed
United in the sands
I take the river
to my soul
and pray we come again.
Towards nature's clock
and nature's rhythms
through my soles arise my soul
and so
I give
my grateful thanks
to land and sky above.

~anne