descend to the river

we used to descend to the rivers to fetch water, to bathe, to launder cloth. to contemplate, to pray, to dream. stepping down sloped paths, perhaps hand in hand with one another. or a bucket, basket, in hand. our feet, ears, and eyes guiding. weaving amongst the the plants, the rocks, the lichens, the insects, the animals all listening keenly alert to our every step and exchanging inevitably with our every breath.

we used to reach the rocky banks and strip down to nothing but our humble skins. offering ourselves, ceremoniously or not, to the waters. the clean waters, sliding themselves forever down from the mountain tops, the glacial lakes, the clouds. the waters of minerals, of fishes, of otters, bears. beneath the ziggings of dragon flies, between the chimes of cross-banked birds. we used to exist in these ecosystems. we used to immerse our flesh into the waters from which we came. we used to come up for air, wipe fingers across our eyes, open mouths, and drink of the water. suckling. satiating. we used to cry our tears upon the earth as a rain to these waters, instead of stuff them down inside us as “too much” or “not the right time” to grieve, to feel, to wring our hearts from our eyes and weep. we used to. our ancestors, our blood, our hearts forever know of these times. forever connected to the primordial truths. know of what’s been severed, but not lost. know of what’s been domesticated, but never fully choked out. the wild lives on, and we may take part. we need not abandon our modern lives entirely. our domesticated, disconnected lives. we may, if the radical path home calls to us. and for some of us the call is so loud, a howling wind that cannot be slept through. it certainly keeps me up at night, so to speak.

but for the rest of us, just to remember what was. and what could still be. this can be enough to begin the descent back to the banks of the river. to remember ways that preceded ours, and the ways that will outlive us when ours inevitably fail. this is a call to the roots, to the headwaters, to the source. a call to the waters of the soul, within and without. now is a time to see with perspective, to swim, to sing, to weep. now is the time to remember.