What the Creek Says

What the river says, that is what I say.

~ William Stafford

I walk down to the creek
to listen to myself think.

This self-absorption, this selfishness
is a symptom of not taking care.

I think about what the creek says,
fail to come up with anything

other than susurrus, whisper,
pool, eddy, rushing flow,

crashing falls, tumbling
fish ladders below culverts.

I realize I haven’t been listening.

It’s a small creek, much smaller
than well-known Whatcom Creek

to the north. Isn’t it a necessary,
essential voice anyway?

From today on, I resolve

to walk down to the creek,
to listen to what the creek says.

~*~

Note: with thanks to Bill Brown
for the William Stafford quote.

Andrew Shattuck McBride
NaPoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 7