One hand plus two stones minus racing thoughts
Equals this place where the current carries what I can't.
The water draws me in like children to a screen
As the burn of cold awakens my nerves, just enough to feel.
Light glints off the surface, rippling with my memories.
There's a key down there, somewhere
Under a skittish crawfish safeguarding the depths
Tucked beneath the same stones I once turned.
The one I used to unlock the quiet
Before I even knew what it was.
My children's feet know these shallows now
Of the depths and quiet I once called my own.
Mud gooped between their toes, they carelessly splash
With peaceful abandon. It shines like the minnows
Flickering in the glow that pours between the willows
Swishing and swaying, just out of reach.
One day maybe they'll understand
Why I kept coming back, why I left the key behind.
Like a letter written without words
Meant to guide their feet back towards the water.
To give them a way in when they need to surrender,
And let the burden of their thoughts sink into the sand
While the current urges them gently forward -
Two bare feet, one step at a time
Minus the weight of the world.
