When dark gives way to day
and the city stirs
with the sound of machines,
I pause and take inventory.
Considering the peace I foster
and the good fight
that has its rewards,
I ponder my stream
in the river of life.
Troubles are the rocks
by which the river sings,
the pebbles of my years
adding to the joy and sorrow,
the poignant music
flowing in these winter days
to the gathering sea.
Reading of “Troubles are the Rocks” with music by the Celtic & Irish Folk Wanderers
Congrats on 3/4 of a Century yesterday, Don! This pure current in this poem speaks from the purity of your heart which you have worked on for 75 years and counting. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
I love the reading!
Let the River Run! Let All the Dreamers Wake the Nations,
We’re Coming to the Edge, Running on the Water; so
Come on through the Fog, You Sons and Daughters!
Come, Come, O COME, the New Jerusalem!
What PenDell said!
I must say the sonority of the music and the poem and your voice work together really well.
Don, Nancy and I just enjoyed your poem, a flowing one. We suppose Kevin D. may be paired with the poem because of joy, not because he is one of the troubling rocks. – Love, Tom
Oh, those troubles up ahead! Sometimes those rocks loom large to me, yet I find myself flowing past them unscathed. Othertimes, often in a moment of inattention—-Bump! This is such a telling poem on so many levels, Don. Thank you!
This one becomes my daily reflection. Thank you.
Fortunately, we have run this river before, knowing the line needed to navigate the obstacles, perhaps resting in the eddies, and yes, staying in the flow. Success is our determination to be free and truthful. Thank you. Ed
Who is that handsome Irishman!
Don – In Ireland we have a super abundance of two things. Rocks and water. I am told both are free. Both are problematic, causing much cursing and groaning amongst the natives. As your poem suggests, best thing to do is to just go with it.
Friends for 58 years (or thereabouts)
Kevin
We all have those rocks to deal with creatively!
Glory Be for troubles, for rocks and boulders in the river, without which the placid waters linger and carry into the pebbly bottom of side channel and back eddy; but Glory Be for this turbulence which rocks the boat and demands full presence through darkness and light, as we suffer our sea changes on this journey to the tidelands. And as for you Don, and for your vigorous words, I shout Glory Be in the midst of all this white water. db