Out and About June 2022 -issue198

JUNE 2022 | 53
The Fountain of Life
by Anne Rodger
The fountain is the source
The beginning of the natural stream
A well-spring of water - clear and true
The Embarkation, commencement
The Spring of the dream.
The dream of a life that will follow a course
Pre-determined or chance
Who knows the way?
The path it will take?
The speed and the flow?
The whole of life’s pattern
Caught up in its sway.
It bursts forth at the origin
Like a baby at birth
So new and alive.
With its energy spent
It will find its own path
The cascade of excitement
Will slow to content.
Sparkling droplets of water refracting the light
Are scattered and blown as they descend
through the air
On reaching the ground, they settle and pause
Then move forward together
The life-stream on course.
A stream or a river - what will it become
Narrow or wide? fast flowing or slow?
Some lives are shallow - exhibit no depth
Other waters run murky - their depth not to
know.
Though the role of the fountain determines the
start
Its influence lessens as life takes a hold
The flow of the river through all life must be
Direction downstream before it fades out to sea.