Stand Like A River

It’s OK to take a break.

Runners take a day off.

Doctors sleep.

Presidents go four years, eight at most.

How do we know we are OK? How do we take stock if we don’t stop once in awhile?

Corn grows for a few months and then is harvested.

The ground sleeps.

Planes fly for 15 hours straight and then

Maintenance, cleaning, refueling.

Babies nap

Because they are growing,

And growing is hard work.

Sometimes babies need held;

Growing is scary.

Life is not a pedal-to-the-metal until we die,

Watching bank accounts.

Sometimes letting go is how we hold on

To who we are.

God gave us flowers and rain

And slugs and stars and sunsets

So we would stop and look.

If you are standing like a river,

Like I was,

Using every muscle to stay,

Break the dam and watch

All the new places the water flows.

Watch as it powers and carves and then slows.

Let it trickle for as long as it needs,

And then,

Watch it narrow and pick up speed

And find a cliff to fall beautifully over.