River Song (Elevate Suite)

River Song is a fusion of two poems, both of which have been published in the All of Me collection, courtesy of Shadow Spark Publishing (as Preamble and River Slide respectively). Featured art is by Brooke Shaden.

Listen to River Song by Richard Charles Stevens (Elevate Suite)

Listen to Elevate by Because Of Art

Ebbs and flows reposed in braid.
The river then ran freely.

I used to come to this place, as a child.

There was always something about this particular River. I liked the way it ran wild and untamed. Even when the air was dense, it breathed me in and breathed me out the same way facing, all embracing nature all the same.

I felt Home in this place.

And each time I returned, it felt that I had never been so far away. Seen through the eyes of a child, it prized a treasure trove of trinkets and fancies no less than expansive.

Nothing was off limits, not a mirror image timid. As I basked in my reflection, dreams no longer seemed so finite. No explicit recollection whether I had been here days, or hours or minutes.

Lifting the globe, I defied my own physics.

Relied on my instincts to clinch a fit path through the heart of the trees, a remarkable feat for a sailor ordained to the marginal seas of a harbour foreseen no imaginative scene.

Rock and a hard place between, I proceeded. The pathway before me implored no brief story. Fell halfway to knees as the leaves told their tale. For all their felled glory, seemed keen to prevail.

As I breathed in, my cheeks lessened pale. Rose red were the breaths I exhaled. While the bed of water lilies by my feet made indiscreet their best intentions to perfect me as their centrepiece.

Imperfections were my plentiful degree, eventually to be dependably protected by the senses gleaned attentively. Suspended were the fears and apprehensions so lamentably erected in my mental penitentiary.

I felt home in this place.

Pacing the lagunes of my imagination forward facing. All embracing nature all the same.

I felt five again, a child again. This River brave ran wild again. Adventure sense beguiled again. Remembering to smile again. I ventured to the high terrain and came to rest at precipice. Alight again.

The naked flame about me darted. Innovating fading heartbeats. Stars fleeted heartily about me as I artfully made chains of timeless harmonies and bracelets of their calming breeze.

I felt impartially at ease. Both light and shade fair grace bequeathed. Elatedly I breathed the air loquaciously relieved. As I proceeded to awaken to a dream. A child foreseen through eyes no sign of vacancy contriving. The greatest fable famed unique horizon.

A fairy tale to call Home.
Known of mystic River rising.

The greatest fable famed unique horizon.

the river then ran freely
its ebbs and flows composing scene
undressed of predisposing genes
midday sun unsung in closing speech
to teach the leaves to reach the breeze
in piquancy
to meet and greet the coastal reef and breathe
the flora at her feet arose between her toes
while sloping greens made known
the growth of seeds she sowed
in swollen streams discreetly showed
noble trees wore ocean sleeves
of hopeful dreams foreseen
each broken wave an ornate keepsake
of the cradled open seas
melancholic monsters muted
thick gray mist short shrift diluted
rosebud lips of prior brooded
bled the briar range secluded
wept of resolute and bearing
glaring sun and waxing moon
darned in timeless serenade
of raptured bloom attuned unsparing
never to forsake the stars
venerating scars agape
ebbs and flows reposed in braid
the river then ran freely

the flora at her feet arose
to slow her heartbeat
heel to toe
while telling leaves of fell made known
the altered course serenely charted
keenly she proceeded
through the sweep of dreams dearly departed
memories uniquely guarded
not a frowned belief down hearted
postulation unmigrated
each sped tread hence elevated
graduating steep incline
to breathe the skies
retrieve the stars
in trust of clustered dust
to buff the bust of weeping scars
indeed each silent beat enhanced of crackle
grappled for ascendency
dappling the pulse of each compulsion deemed dependency
for here the ebbs and flows reposed in braid
in twine
of kind inclined
her eyes reclined
the river then ran freely
her eyes reclined
the river then ran freely