The creek was dark
beneath the canopy of trees
save for one shaft of sun
that lit the stream there like gold
I could see
on the bottom of the creek
a crawdad, scuttling to safety
the crawdad hid beneath
an ancient sheet of paper
heavy with age and
weathered with water
There was writing
on the old paper,
a message that
was being erased
by the steady flow
The writing was in Spanish
and the remaining words
that I could read said
...El sol, la luna y las estrellas,
la atadura de los años,
esto nos mantendrá firmes...
...which I translated to say
...the Sun, the moon and the stars,
the binding of the years,
these are what hold us steady...
It is my estimation
that this was from a
diary of a wanderer,
a sojourner and stranger
holding steady to the path in front of her,
the stream, rolling alongside her,
and the stars above her
I believe that she
was speaking of a
promised land
one better than older
promised lands
and more sure.
I added my own words to the water
and walked on.
