Water falls over the cliffs, bashing itself against the granite again and again, dropping down into plunge pools dozens of feet below.  It does not die.

Water drops from the highest sky, yet doesn’t shatter.

Not imprisoned in a skeletal shape, water sculpts the bones.

Water assumes no form, and so it’s every form.  Unborn, it dies not.

Ice and cloud, storm and dewdrop, water shifts in form, yet always remains the same.

Unresisting, water never breaks.  Crashing, it yields.  Stopped in its tracks, water grinds mountain to dust.

Held by any mold which seeks to possess it, water yields to all embraces, and shows the impermanence of all holding.  Water finds a way through, and flows on, and on.

Seeking a single level, water drops down to join the remainder of itself, only to begin the cycle from ocean to vapor to rain, from the aloneness of a hailstone high in the stratosphere to return to its ocean once again.

Not created.  Not destroyed.  Always moving, eluding definition, water finds its home.

© 2022 by Michael C. Just

Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.

You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23

Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002

Four of his short stories have recently been published online:

Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)

The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW

I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October

Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within