The water was so *****, I couldn’t see the stones sink to the bottom,
but I knew they did, stones always sank, like hearts but more often.
By this river I know so well, I watch as the water flows to the sea
like so many lives that have come and gone without leaving a mark.
Lives don’t leave valleys like rivers do, they stay until something bigger
comes rushing in, landscapes almost always unchanging and true,
just every now and again a life comes flooding into your own
and you can’t help but marvel at how much that life changed your valley,
now there’s so much more room for you to grow and cultivate,
even long after that life that carved your home has left and died.

By that great river with the castle overlooking my domain,
I wonder who made my valley bigger, which nameless face
that has graced my life allowed me such room to grow.
The valley exists, so that means she has already passed by,
maybe I have missed her, not realising who she was
and how much of an impact she would have on my landscape,
now gone, leaving behind a shadow of a scent,
a vague sense of awareness of having been watched but now no longer.
Come back to me so I can at least give you thanks,
come back to me so at least I can see the face of you.