I put my feet into the water 

just to feel the cool, the swirling

calm ripples, my legs still itching from nettle 

on the bank coming down.  Sunlight marbles

through the trees over-reaching the stream

where water striders skate and bubbles

of fish appear near the surface mouthing

for flies and misquotes.  Red clay glisters

on the opposite river bank.  Debris still caught

in the bend of the river from the last downpour.

All this life, yet comes a time to walk into the river 

and slip away as the river slips away.   

 

 

“Mirabeau Bridge” from Alcools, Guillaume Apollinaire. English translation copyright 1995 Donald Revell.   https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50041