I walked along the precipice of Niagara Falls, 

 

Felt the fierce force of the flood as it plunged into the gorge, 

 

The rush and rumble of rapids and the roaring of the river falling 

 

I walked along a tightrope stretched between now and then 

 

Between a desire to dive into the foam and a wish to flee, 

 

Drawn by a will to submit, to abandon all 

 

And the still small voice that called me home. 

 

 

And near Niagara Falls, I walked along the green wet grass, 

 

Surrounded by the deep golden hue of ripened maples 

 

Dropping each leaf slowly, savoring every loss 

 

Like a sacrifice 

 

And framing the sky into a deeper blue 

 

That invited me to dive upward and lose myself in a vast azure dome 

 

Whispering, “come to me” 

 

And contending with the pull of gravity. 

 

 

And near Niagara Falls, my eyes were thirsty vessels drinking up the sight of swirling water 

 

The racing of the current toward the edge and pushing rocks and trees aside. 

 

The geese swam wisely in the quiet channel near the shore 

 

The seagulls raced and dove like bombers into the abyss 

 

Where the might of flowing streams could turn the turbines and the wheels of industry 

 

While gently launching spray into the clear blue air 

 

Little drops that each split the light into shards of colour 

 

Coming together into the arc of rainbows 

 

Stretching languidly across the canyon, 

 

Without whose calming presence 

 

We would perhaps all leap into the fray. 

 

 

And looking at Niagara Falls at night, the search lights shining on the streaming curtain 

 

I stand on my balcony and breathe the high air at the twenty-first floor 

 

Like a cool drink after a day of striving 

 

And think of how to tell you my friends I love you. 

 

How to send golden thoughts to you like single leaves across the distance 

 

Moving as slowly as the trees 

 

To savour each personal gift of love as it rises 

 

To feel every spasm of my heart 

 

As a sacrifice to your innate goodness 

 

I am diving into each of you and never want to reach bottom. 

 

I am filling you up to surfeit until you must give back the love I have sent to you. 

 

And can you feel the many colours of the rainbow joy and sadness that arcs from you to me 

 

 

At Niagara Falls?