Never Left The Riverside

I never left the riverside,
it’s wooded banks remain in
time a fixed and cogent line of
right and wrong, the stream a
stream of life that flows along
a stable way. The waters in the
riverbed were seen as regent
reasons for a happy life, and
answers lay between the
coloured stones that shone
through crystal water clear
and clean, meanings muddied
only when the seasons shed
their awesome tears. I can
return there even now to
stand and gaze with yearning
in my heart for simple virtues
gleaned from simple lives
we lived beside the river in
the valley of my dreams.
© I.D. Carswell 2007