What?!

things just ain't ready to change yet
so you go to the familiar confluence of river and sea
and sit
with the friend you wouldn't have had the sense to appreciate a few scant years ago
before all this happened
and you were changed.

The river's course changes
over eons
it took humankind an age to learn to walk upright
and you're just trying to learn to love in this tiny lifetime
so you sit
with your friend
and let the ocean wind clear your mind
and let the sun kiss your cheeks with autumn warmth
and let a black dog sniff your shoes
as you stroke his sleek coat

To see the progress
To note the change
you sometimes have to look back
You see how blind you were
You know how mute you sat
You never went to the place where the river meets the sea
You didn't show your face, free of fraud, to a friend
The moon was black
the sun, a burnt out light bulb
You groped along in the reeds
and fell on your face in the mud.

And even now, when you can see the path in front of you
You only see a hint of open water
You get a brief whiff of salty air.