The River of Life


In the twilight of life and being
I lift my eyes to the stars in rapture
And in me I feel the river flowing
That Great River of Life's Future.
In the twinkling of the night's stars
And in the crisp chastening air
I feel as young and strong as Mars
Like Achilles who death itself didn`t fear.

In the face of old age and dissolution,
Of human pride and hearts uncaring
I steel myself in the blood of Eurithion
Whose bow will send my soul flying
Past Pluto's fiery gates of dismal oblivion
On a journey to Ithaca's blessed shore
Where at last my soul weary from human
Toil and tears may find succor for'er more.

As the last days of light trickle down
In the hour-glass of allotted time
With a smile of hope before I drown
I turn to Hellas and with a last rhyme
Of dying love I lift up my eyes to Apollo
The god of light, the god of glorious life
And to Athena who makes the olive grow
I pour a libation into the River of Life.

Into the Great River of Life I'll flow
And though tossed from bank to bank
Like a twig as fragile as a minnow
As unnoticed as the salmon that sank
To its sandy grave unfrayed, unloved,
I will still sing of the joys of living,
Of loving in days of sunlit moss-loved
Spring when the heart is light 'n singing.

Let us not fret and regret what is past
For we cannot try as we may catch
The dying rays of the sun setting fast
Below the horizon and beyond our watch.
What awaits us is better that the best 
Of wines here on earth, fairer by far
Than fairest Helen, a land more blest,
A light brighter than the brightest star.

Come then, let us sing a song to delight
Our departing soul and without fear
Let us follow the owl of matchless sight
That will guide us past the funeral pyre.
Hearken to the mighty roar of life's waters
Crashing into the Ocean of Timelessness!
From Earth's storm-tossed, time-swept rivers
From the River of Life, let's merge into Oneness!

Claudio Wye
November 2000


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