In Whose Cooling Water I Stand

IN WHOSE COOLING WATER I STAND

The power of the Nile,
The length of the Amazon's flow,
The fruitfulness of the Mississippi
And the link of the Ganges and the soul,
The sadness of the Jordan,
The labour of the Yangtze,
The meaning of the Tigris and Euphrates,
The beauty of the Thames as all can see.
And these mighty rivers
Full of the meanings of their land
Touching and touched by
The eye, the tongue, and hand,
Give of themselves to the sky
And are seen above as a cloud
Carried beyond their own valleys
To be dropped as if tears on a shroud.
For eons thus they have traveled
Nurturing life on the land,
Sharing their water with others
And causing me to ask
In whose cooling water I stand?

~Michael Bahm~

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