The Stream

Lost in forest
wandering alone
locked in dusk,
I came to a stream.
The stream came to me.
A gleaming flow rising.
Thirsty, I drank.
Compassion, kindness.
I followed its meanderings,
And it followed mine.
An uncertain dance,
through undiscovered lands,
sharing emptiness.
Miles slipped quietly into years.
Things not said,
things not asked.
Until I stumbled out
past the forest edge,
into the harsh light of knowing,
the need to say goodbye.
All so long ago,
yet the stream still flows,
through me.