The River Doesn’t Care

The river doesn’t care
What you make of it, O man.
It has its life,
And you have yours.
Curse it all you like,
And still it will outlive you.

Or if by chance you should
Take a different mind about it,
You can learn its way
And its bounty
And its strength
And let it bear you on its back–

Though only to the places it goes.

And once you are yielded that
It only goes where it goes,
The river will still outlive you,
For it is what it is
And you are what you are.

But you shall have had In your days
Your river.
And you shall have learned in your heart
Its lesson.
And only then shall you
Discover that the river had prepared you
For what comes next.