NATURE

The salmon and the stream
know intuitively
where they must go
and go there.

By nature,
they are opposed—
yet do not oppose
their nature.

Their script was written
long before these words.
I envy what they know
without knowing. I wonder

what it must be like
never to question,
be lost,
or lament.

Unmoved,
the ground rests
hard and chill beneath me;
the stream flashes by.

I know they will outlast me
and soon enough embrace me.
By then, I will be past
all caring.

But for the moment,
conscious of the rough-hewn
edges of my spirit,
I rouse myself

and let the stream take me,
clothes and all,
hoping to be borne
a way

or at least
cradled for a time
in its sandy lap
until smooth.

—David L. Jaffe