The journey

to the final falls at the river’s head
becomes more treacherous
the closer I come to getting there,
the more slippery the terrain,
boulders mossed green and slick,
and all the water raging around
as I crawl forward
against the blasting wind.

But I have made it all this way
finally and cannot go back,
now the end is here in sight,
some kind of winning goal
so close, so close.

And all the pain
only pushes me harder
because I know,
age doing to us what it does,
I will never pass this way again.

All to reach that force, to touch the power
in the midst of that crashing madness all around me,
to stand up, even if just barely, under the pressure
of the watery world cascading down upon me,
this is it, I know,
this is the show we all must come to see.