In the bottom
of the canyon
floating
carried through time
by the current
neath our craft
time evaporates
with the water
the sweat
in the heat of
deceptive desert

I alone
but not alone
bodies accompany
spirits of our ancestors
watch over
ride shotgun on the raft
take our hands and our hearts

dirt and sweat
sand in places no one has places for sand
live your days
as close to the world that is real
as anyone can in our today

heat bakes off
the ancient rocks
chill of water
shocks the mind
hours slink and slide

Pee in the river
sleep neath the stars
night blanket
warmed by radiant heat
at days end
bath in the river where up stream others pee
sleep to the roar
of the river’s song
lulled by owl and cricket and silence

canyon walls cradle
sing the haunting wood flute song
rocks with fossil foot prints
bake beneath the Arizona sky
tell the story
of the reality
that once was alive and crying
joy and sorrow
to the sound of her roar

Spirit of our mother’s mothers
who’s footsteps we tread
walk with me as I leave
the reality of the river world
returning to the soul numbing rim world above