The Calling

The Calling
 So many paths not taken
 So many words unsaid -
 Though I travel far, they bind me
 In a web of golden thread
 I can hear a far-off calling
 As the water flows ahead
 I am waiting for the river-man
 In the hidden riverbed
 On the bank, three women passing
 They measure time for me -
 In the mirror of the water
 They can but darkly see
 I will walk beyond the meadows
 With a child in either hand
 Through the river's many shadows
 We will pass from land to land
 All the promises unspoken
 Lie like fallen leaves on the ground
 But the thread is still unbroken
 And the hidden may be found
 When the wheeling birds are leaving
 They pass the sinking sun
 We will travel with the river-man
 Until time and time is run.