The River-stone

Today I looked around our beautiful park

Not a tree was standing to build an ark

The river had risen before we had time

To save all the things that would us remind

Of picnics & cricket games, under the trees

Of benches & pavilions on which we took ease

Of playgrounds and paths that meandered through

The park where everything now lay askew

I picked up pebbles in my hands
And collected a pile from across the sand
Where once had been grass and now was muck
Where the river had flowed and created havoc

I looked at those pebbles I held in my hand

They didn’t belong in this place on the land
I found a river stone, which belonged so deep
I decided this stone I was meant to keep


I've kept the river stone from our park

It stands on my shelf to help me embark
On a journey of renewal and reminder too
That we all can begin any day anew.


The awe of nature that I felt, as I stood, and gazed  all about


The beauty of sunset overhead, shone on the devastation so widespread

Yet as we talked to strangers today, I knew that God in his own way –

Had shown us through this tragedy; love, community and true beauty.