Good News from the River

What about that boy,

seven years old,

rescued in the river?

Did you hear his first words

when evening light 

hit his calm little face?

I'm thirsty.

And he waved.

Everybody else —

his daddy, his uncle,

his brother — was all right

for hours, bundled dry.

But the boy's uncle

refused to leave the water

'til something was certain

about his nephew in the cabin

of that flipped boat.

The uncle sat

in a dinghy nearby,

just quiet, the whole four hours

the rescue crew worked.

Don't you feel like they

were spirit in the water

then, those two? And

that you want to do that

for somebody,

save or carry them

in deep love?

Stay on the river,

hold the shining space?

--from Ground