The River Greets

Such polite souls have we
In the midst of celebration
Or when the heart is humbled
Awe-inspired by the vast sky
We can’t help but say “hello”
In passing on a walkpath
Wide enough for five abreast

Shoes stained from steering soil
Is not your focal point
Rather the mission that joins us
The trail that twines our souls
Whether we are going there
Or just returning

Do you not know there is snow
In the summer peaks?
And the waterfalls drop abundant
Rising rainbows from the mist
From glaciers melting in your heart?

Through rocks and crags
The water runs rampant
Racing unruly and roughly
Till the course widens

Only then do the rivers settle
Moving swiftly enough to nourish
Slowing to a baby’s crawl to bathe

Your stained shoes from your neighbor’s soil
Listen quietly even during the moon’s reign

In the distance the river still manages to say “hello”