To The River Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Take me down to the river to bathe
To have my past washed away
To begin the new day as a new person
Who views the world with a fresh perspective
And expects the best from friends and strangers alike.

Take me to the shores of the River Ganges
Where Shiva released the seven streams
From his matted locks to allow Ganga
To flow down from heaven without flooding
To restore life to the ashes of the sons of Sagar
And let them finally rise to their eternal rest.

Take me down to the River Styx
Where Thetis the sea nymph
Dipped her son Achilles
Holding him by the heel
Leaving one weak point
That an arrow would one day pierce
Letting the poison do its work,
Making him a mortal man
And an immortal hero
All in one stroke of a bow.

Take me down to the shores of the Nile
Show me where baby Moses was placed in a basket
And set afloat among the reeds by his mother
So that he could one day lead his people
Out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

Then take me down to the River Jordan
Where John baptized Jesus
And a dove descended to bless him
And send him on the journey
That led to his death and resurrection
For the salvation of all mankind.

Take me down to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi
Where eagles fly and steamboats float
And Huck Finn and a slave named Jim
Once took off on a handmade raft
In search of a place where they could be free
From the society that enslaved them
And brainwashed them with strange ideas
About the natural order of things in so-called civilization.

Take me down to the rivers where the myths are made
Let me wade into their moving waters
Let me feel their currents tugging at my legs.
Hold me as I float.
Dip me under.
Make me new again.
In the hope that love and brotherhood
Don’t only exist in bedtime stories.