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Mid-Summer, 2022, I visited Burney Falls in Burney, California, with two lovely companions. This is my impression of the waterfall.
It is a moment in time I will never forget, for both the beauty of the falls and those who shared the time with me.
Below is a poem inspired by this visit.
Also please read the wonderful “In Praise of Water” by John O’Donohue (provided by Steven Harper), from his book To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings.
Water Makes No Sound
Water makes no sound,
Until it collides or is constricted.
So was my life until the day
Your presence found and lifted
Something deep inside, my tangled
Skein of hopes, desires and dreams.
As falling over rocks and falls,
Dashed against the banks of streams,
Like pressing through a narrow pipe,
Or transformed as bubbles under heat
You found a way to make a noise
Akin to where two rivers meet.
For long the dam gates were closed
Then woke the hydraulics and began to start
By opening valves to where you flowed
Over my parched and waiting heart.
Water makes no sound
Always here, quietly endowed
As from tidal pools and ponds
To the patient wells below our ground.
by Greg Thweatt