I sit and watch the water flow,
Like glistening gold the sun reflects.
I don’t know where the creek will go,
Which path in life that it selects.

Maybe it flows into a lake
Where many creeks choose to combine.
The different path that each will take
Before they all come into line.

Perhaps this creek will just run dry,
Instead of water, only dust,
Until the rain pours from the sky
And brings life back to muddy crust.

Or if the creek is like God’s love,
And flows forever, spreading wide.
I’m sure that just like God above,
It will bring life to the creekside.

I sit alone with rocks and trees,
I sit alone and watch this all,
I feel the sun and gentle breeze,
I hear a magpies lonely call.

I sit and watch the creek go by,
Not knowing where its journey ends.
I wipe the water from my eye,
As I start thinking of my friends.

I think of how they make me smile.
Ironically this makes me sad.
And as I sit here all the while,
I think of all the fun we’ve had.

My friends are so close to my heart,
Although they’re mainly far away,
And though I know we’ve had to part,
For all my friends each night I pray.

As we flow through life together,
At times we’ve laughed and times we’ve cried.
I pray but I do not know whether
You’ll sit with me by the creekside.

By Lloyd McLean (1993)

This poem is part of the Seasons of Emotion collection