If I were to build a home
on the banks of a river it would be
to see come at me
snowmelt surge from mountains
passing in turbulent cold depth
in wild rush over worn boulders
then watch as it goes, flows away
to the surf and sand of an oceans edge
losing itself in curling waves
breaking on sea stacks slow eroding
over a long beach where children run
unaware, with gleeful cries.
That is where my final home will be
built not by my own hands
but by the hands of another.

Portland, Oregon – April 27, 2017

Photo is my own, taken 12/28/16 – the McKenzie River, Oregon, late afternoon.