A slender leaf
floats downstream.
Its tip touches
a stouter leaf,
sending the
slender leaf
spinning.
The leaf continues to
twist as it drifts,
Making it seem spastic,
but it neither rushes
nor dawdles.
It matches the flow,
letting gravity &
currents do all the work.
It races only when it
plunges through
a narrow channel,
But it downshifts just as
effortlessly as the
stream widens.
The leaf's action is
unforced, yielding to
energy imparted upon it.
even a stream
charges a toll, and
thwarts cheaters.
step on stone: slip & fall;
sink calf deep: you may pass.
the stream carries sand,
dropping it in a broad pool,
clueless of its work.
sitting on a rock, feet dangling in the stream, thwarting summer heat.
moss-covered limbs break the water's surface, unmoved by the flow.
the floating leaf
chooses its path around
the island
by not choosing a path
around the island.
"the fish's world is always in drift," thinks I, from the bank.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 