As a child, he used to watch the river slowly pass
he would throw sticks into it and watch them float away
and wonder where do they go?
What’s at the end of the river?
He would strain his eyes and crane his neck
to see where it went
and walk along its banks until his parents would call him back.
He yearned to know.
So when he reached adulthood he bid a tearful goodbye to his family
and set off to find what was at the end.
He met a priest who told him there was gold at the end
just follow me, but he stole all his food.
He met a wise man who told him of a great city
of gold and white palaces just give me your money
so he did and the wise man laughed and ran away.
Yet onward he walked he would not give up
I will find what is at the end of the river!
The river was quiet and softly running
then it would explode in violent race,
with rapids foaming and raging noise
carrying logs and tree limbs
he loved this river with all his heart
he named it Mystery.
He drank of its cool water
and ate of its fish, given to him
generously by his friend.
He grew old in his quest
a very old man indeed
now hobbling alongside Mystery
knowing her, loving her grand beauty
and boundless strength, her timeless grace.
Then one beautiful morning the air was fresh with dew
he slowly walked toward the answer to his question
and stood in stony awe as the river
flowed peacefully into a vast ocean.
As he watched entranced the sun began to set
a dazzling spectacle of reds and oranges
and he wept with gratitude
I HAVE FOUND WHAT’S AT THE END OF THE RIVER
he screamed and fell to his knees.
I am.
And he fell asleep and dreamed of water.
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The end of the river, the vast sea. Too much for me, but this is a better river rhyme than mine.
It’s funny…this was originally a childrens book I wrote and the hero was a bunny. When I saw your post with river in the title and the picture of the rabbit I was inspired to re-write it
Cool, the rabbit picture is from an art museum I visited. It’s one of the only pictures I have uploaded to my laptop that the image is not too big to fit. I don’t know why, they were all taken with the same device and nothing different was done with them. Thanks for responding.