Never Without a Trace
Standing by the river that has carried me this far,
its course passing far beyond my own horizon,
I think of how little my life has played in its grand scale.
Coming, going, the waterbirds don’t leave a trace.
Or so I thought of life, my own being complete
and having little to show for my passing.
But then, looking down on its sandy shore,
I saw the tracks of a heron’s path and thought
of the child I once held, the fruit of my loins
traveling along that same river on a course
far ahead of my own, yet echoing my own,
one of many that fill the river to its banks.
The prompt for Poetics: Stepping Off the Sidewalk, from Laura at dVerse ~ Poets Pub is to use one of eight given fragments from the mystic poets in a poem. I have used “Coming, going, the waterbirds don’t leave a trace,” a line attributed to Dōgen, a 13th Century Japanese Buddhist monk.
Image source: Minneapolis Institute of Art
~ Heron on Branch, by Ohara Shōson ~
(click image/larger view/new tab)
rivrvlogr 
Lovely. And true. Autumn thoughts and feelings.
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Thank you, Daniel. Seasons and life have a way of reminding us of what’s important.
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The waterbirds don’t leave a trace but, I think we as humans do leave traces of ourselves here on earth.
I feel the journey is about expanding our thoughts with grace and peace. The river of thought has found you.
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Thank you. 🙂
Yes, grace and peace.
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Very good poem Ken. Our thoughts ran in the same vein on this one. I chose the same line!
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Thank you, Dwight.
And in the same vein — a true lasting legacy.
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Yes! That is great! I enjoyed seeing all of you on the live meeting. It was good to hear you read your poems on the You Tube replay.
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Yes. I liked your treatment of the prompt a lot: “real” waterbirds (as distinct from birds in poems) do indeed leave traces – feathers, poop, squawks in the morning, traces in the sand, and a new generation of waterbirds – much like us.
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Thank you, Peter.
If only our mark on nature could be as gentle.
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Your poem resonates with me. What mark is left by others and what of my own? I deeply value this question. I especially like your last stanza.
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Thank you, Ali.
Not one of us is a minor player when you consider our legacy as a whole.
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Yes, each choice matters. Thank you for being a thoughtful choice maker.
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🙂
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Beautiful Ken, and full of insightand tenderness — excellent poem.
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Thank you, Rob. 😀
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
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Thank you for sharing. 🙂
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I was going to choose that line but went for a different one. I love where Dōgen’s words led you. Astonishing to think that words from the thirteenth century still resonate with us. I love the idea of a river carrying us far beyond our horizon, Ken, and the comparison with waterbirds. The lines in your poem that resonate with me are:
‘I saw the tracks of a heron’s path and thought
of the child I once held, the fruit of my loins
traveling along that same river’.
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Thank you, Kim.
I’ve lived within walking distance of a river – first the Niagara, and now the Missouri – and the place of that (any) moving water has always been on my mind.
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We have a river at the end of our garden. There are moorings too, but sadly we don’t have one.
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Oh, to live beside a river!
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this is such a moving poem, like the waters and the parallel stream of life you ascribe here
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Thank you, Laura.
And thank you for the prompt. Once I saw “water”… well, I couldn’t pass on the prompt. 🙂
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Its all connected…we may not see them, but the threads are there. (K)
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They are, and so many of them interwoven.
Thank yuo, Kerfe.
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A poignant meditation on life which led on seamlessly from the prompt line.
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Thank you, Ingrid. I often think of water – bodies of water and what they signify in life.
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I am so very touched by the sentiments in this one, Ken! Especially love the image; “yet echoing my own, one of many that fill the river to its banks.”💝
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Thank you, Sanaa. I sometimes wonder what I will miss — the experience and accomplishments of my children and grandchildren, people so dear to me — once I am gone.
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Beautiful.
“I saw the tracks of the heron”…..and in looking deeper into nature, we begin to understand.
I enjoyed this very much!
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Thank you, Lillian. We leave our own traces, for good and for bad, and we need to be aware of them.
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Such a delightful read Ken.
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Thank you, Paul. 🙂
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Indeed, my pleasure Ken.
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This poem flows like the river, like all the souls that are passing through.
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Thank you. Life, the river that flows through -and- carries us.
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A thoughtful piece. Someone once said “A child is a blank slate on which the parents write”. All too true.
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Thank you, Beverly.
And there is much to be written once we are gone.
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a mystical and ecological contemplation … lovely!
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🙂 Thank you.
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nice to ‘see/hear’ you in Bjorn’s recording of your session!
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🙂 Thank you.
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Your last stanza speaks volumes, Ken!
“traveling along that same river on a course
far ahead of my own, yet echoing my own,
one of many that fill the river to its banks.”
An intriguing and magical piece, indeed.
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Thank you, Eugenia. I am so proud of my children. In this regard, I think I’ve been touched by magic.
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You have, Ken, and you’re welcome!
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I lovethis. Future generations that echo your voice and carry footprints.
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Thank you, Mary. 🙂
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To leave an imprint is something we all do… I just hope mine will be as benign as possible.
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Benign, yet worthy of remembrance.
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That’s a very deep river you’re writing Ken. It is more often than not that the child we held is the imprint we most make.
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Thank you, John. That is a truth worth remembering.
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Maybe we don’t leave a trace sometimes but that we lived and loved is more important, I hope, than fame
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True. Let love be our legacy.
Thank you. 🙂
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Our ripples all intersect with each others, waxing and waning through the ages. Beautiful poem using nature to express found wisdom through living.
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And sometimes those intersections bring inspiration.
Thank you, Lisa.
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Heck yes 🙂 You’re welcome.
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A most wise and wonderful write ~~
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🙂 Thank you.
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How lovely to witness this in our lifetime. The ending lines made me hopeful for the future!
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There must be hope for those who walk beside us and those who follow.
Thank you, Grace.
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Love this Ken. This has put me in a reflective mood on my passage through time. Very nicely done.
Pat
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Thank you, Pat. 🙂
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I too think of legacy, and lack thereof, and what my sons will carry with them. Perhaps, some light, if I am lucky ~
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Our eternal hope.
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