Two Streams

by Ray Skjelbred,

Alexis's father~2000

Two Streams

In Lassen Park, if I do it right,
I can stand in two streams at once;
they look almost the same,
but one is freezing, the other, boiling.

On ever path I just walk on mercy the earth gives.
If you see me fall through---that's all right;
maybe the crust was supposed to be thin.

And in that quiet meadow I love,
the sky might turn red any time---
even the end of the world
would be a blessing that wouldn't surprise me.

Wherever I stand there is something I trust---
an arrival, a confluence, a world revising,
the earth getting ready to begin.