The clouds are dark and black, filled with vapor

The vapor transforms into drops as the particles collideThe drops turn to rain, falling to earth in a new storm of lifeThe rain forms a stream, rushing onward,over the rocks and trees that often block the wayThe stream joins with other streams to become a riverA baton falls into the river and flows with itAs the banks widen, the river slows as often happens in lifeIt lazes for a while as it has lost the joy of youthbut then the river is joined by a younger riverThis river is rushing, full of lifeThe waters of the new river mingle with the waters of the old river,bringing encouragement, healing and a sparkle that only youth can bringThey travel together as their thoughts and actions bondin a sharing of visions, joy and peaceBut up ahead there is a forkBoth rivers, now moving as one, can see it and they fear the breaking of the bondAt the fork, they swirl together for a last time,sharing the joy of discovery and the knowledge of divergenceFor each knows they cannot journey any further as oneAt the fork, the rivers split, moving away from each otheron their separate journeys, but now, each river has a batonThe old river runs faster and deeper, charged by the joiningThe younger river, filled with more knowledge, slows in its journeyuntil it too is joined by a new river and they share the experiences of the old riverAt each fork, the batons split, each river taking one so it canbe passed on to younger streams, the knowledge accumulating along the wayThe rivers flow through their lives as they journeyto their ultimate destination which isthe ocean of fulfillment, where all rivers meet againIn the ocean we are warmed by our mutual experiencesWe are refreshed by the joining, we glow in the shimmering lightas the sun warms us. We turn to vapor and rise to the cloudswhere we are cooled by the stars of the night skyawaiting the birth of a new day in a new worldAs we see the light, we realize we must partWe turn into tears for we know it is time to leaveThe tears become rain, falling onto a parched landwhere the drops join together into a stream,and a baton falls into the watersThe stream rushes to the riverlearning as it flowsand when the waters join, they are renewedas they journey together for a whiletoward the ocean of fulfillmentBy Gordon Smith© 2010 Gordon Smith all rights reserved