River Retreat Poem by Gerald Sedillo

The morning's fire of the breaking sun
tells me its time to go swim.
The water, cool, calls for me to float
along the bank, the clear crystal flows.
On my back, I wish crisp longings to
feel the rivers embrace never end.
My epidemic finally ends
when lazily I coast, relaxed, sun
showering me with gentle rays. Tow
mallards join me, diving down, swimming
to eat tiny fish. As water flows
I marvel at these birds as we float.
A large wooden limb alongside floats
by me, reaching from the end
of some river tree. Down this limb flows,
gaining speed. I lost to a jealous sun.
Like a tired aquatic athlete, swimming
no more. It succumbs to water too.
Life is like a river rushing to
inevitable ending. We float
sometimes unable to see to swim
carefully. Water runs to its end.
The light rises from the base, the sun
sets at its mouth. Life goes round in flows.
How many are the limbs lost in flows
from river streams? Life twists itself to
pull down travellers. Watching, the sun
laughs at these watery drops. No float
is tossed, only life coming to end
summer joys. Why should we even go swim?