Unleashed Reservoirs--the call of water

The water called to me,
Giggling and playfully teasing me as a little girl,
Of walking in cold mountain streams,
Teetering on slippery moss-covered Appalachian rocks,
Family members holding hands and traversing the uncertain ground, the rushing current, and the shore all too far away,
Slipping and plunging with shrieks into the clear water, 

Innocence, belief in the goodness of life,
Togetherness and joy,
Potential.

The water called to me
In a hushed whisper, inviting me to ponder the roaring noise of stillness,
Moments of escape from the beelike activity of life,
One small pebble thrown,
And ripples then forming in outward-facing rings,
One evolved into many,
A purpose, a bigger picture,
The interconnectedness of the flow,
The power of influence, the buoyancy of friendships,
Motivation.



Once again and again, the water called to me,
As to a frightened rabbit alone on the shoreline,
Inviting me to find peace in the small wind-rippled currents,
But my life flow was repeatedly dammed behind a construct of
Mores, expectations, guilt, and inadequacy,
The murkiness of life hiding truth and purpose,
Vision blurred and cloudy,
But to the shores,  the water echoed back to my confusion,
Reminding me of its ever-flowing vastness,
The interweaving nature of all water, 

Rushing and rippling and absorbing each other.
Then, water trickled, free falling down my cheeks,
Cleansing,
Clarifying purpose and meaning,
New eyesight.



The water called to me again just a year ago, 
Daring me, pulling me,
Challenging me to plunge into the depths,
To dive into the unknown,
Fulled clothed and yet so nakedly vulnerable,
Bidding me to leave the safety of the shore,
To blindly trust the water’s ability
To absorb my hurt, to lighten the weight,
To buoy me,
To make me alive.

The water that day provided me a reflection
Of the young girl turned woman,
Who has the power to choose—
To tiptoe and slip into the flow,
Or to dive headfirst and heartfirst,

To reflect from the shore 

Or to listen to her heart’s desire to explore the depths,

A choice to float on the surface and soak in the peace,
Or instead, when the moment is right, 

To pick up a paddle and push forward to the spot where the light rises in the east,

New beginnings,

Re-creation.