What Will You Do?

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The photo is taken from the bridge I look at when I am sitting at my desk.

Beaumont the Sheepadoodle and I cross it every morning when we take our first walk of the day. I am (usually) still in my PJs. My long black winter coat covers me well. There are usually not many people out at this ‘just before the dawn’ walk.

This morning, we set out about half an hour later than normal. I’m grateful we did as the sun greeted us as we turned back towards home.

We stoped in the middle of the bridge. Beau to sniff out all the scents. Me to breathe into the beauty around me and to listen to the river running fast and loud beneath the bridge.

The river runs noisy. An ice island is forming between the two middle buttresses of the bridge, pushing the water out into two separate channels on either side. The river flows in from the west, meets the tip of the ice island, separates and crowds itself into the narrow channels that run along either shore under the bridge.

I stop and listen. The rushing waters burble, leaping over each other in a wild cacophony of sound. Their glorious song is full of possibilities. As if the waters know, they cannot flow back to their beginnings and must keep moving ever-onwards towards the distant sea that waits with eager anticipation to embrace them.

The river carries no regret.

May we all travel like the river.

May we all carry no regrets.

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 What Will You Do?
  ©2021 Louise Gallagher 

 What will you do with the limitless possibilities 
 of this new year that reaches far beyond 
 the past you know so well 
 into the distant horizon you have not yet travelled?

 Will you turn your back on its promises
 dragging past hurts and pains and disappointments
 as you stumble and fall 
 beneath the burden of all you carry?

 Will you step forward, 
 lightly and confidently, 
 into the unknown promises 
 yearning to unfurl
  into the spaciousness created
 when you let go of the things 
 that do not serve you well on this journey?

 What will you do?

14 thoughts on “What Will You Do?”

  1. Every drop of water in that river existed at the beginning of this earth. Every breath of air in our atmosphere existed at the beginning of this earth. Every part of every one of us contains elements that have been here since the beginning of time …

    A day, or a year, is an accounting tool.

    A poet, a writer, on the other hand – makes magic with words, saying things that have never been said in ways they’ve never been said before; the essence of creation, making something from nothing and giving it life.

    Write on my friend, and have a great 365 days of writing!

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  2. Thanks for the nudge to put on my boots and go outside, even though it’s early for my daily walk. I live on a farm out in the bush, and my walk takes me to a high spot on the road where the view opens up to reveal the Skeena river. Each time I reach that spot, I say out loud John O’Donohue’s short poem Fluent – “I want to live like the river flows, carried by the surprise of my own unfolding.” Wishing you a year of surprising unfoldings.

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    • What a beautiful poem to offer out into the world Leslie — and what a fabulous image to hold as I walk along the river every day — though… for my walk this afternoon, I may just take the trail that winds up the hill until the escarpment and chant with you O’Donohue’s poem! Perhaps our voices will meet somewhere in the sky above and between us! –and thank you – surprising unfoldings. such a lovely wish.

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  3. The silent beauty of a sunrise brings forth a day to enjoy, explore and embrace all that it holds. The rushing River brings movement, momentum and music that allows one to embrace the day. Be in sync with nature – it knows too well what our mind and soul need for nourishment.

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