The Stream Of Life

book cover

A collection of 50 poems relating the course
of life to the flow of a mountain stream.
These images and observations inform

and broaden life's experiences.

Now available at 


Amazon.com.


Back to the Quilt Cover
What can you tell of the currents below
when you stand in the cool mountain heights?
Here's where the spring from the melt of the snow
births a stream in the clear, summer nights.

Trickles of water meander across
a wide meadow of sweet, alpine hay.
Pooling below, it drops silt from the dross
as it gathers more strength on the way.

Swiftly the course down the rocky ravine
gains direction and purpose and force,
shouting with joy in this turbulent scene
as it joins a new, cascading source.

Here the brook calms from its rapid descent
as the waters lie peaceful and still.
Evening light, fading, gives hasty consent
and reflects both the forest and hill.

Channeled in banks that have widened with time
where the water runs steady and deep,
currents continue their gentle decline
with eternal appointments to keep.

So many paths in the wetlands, that lead
through a labyrinth placed in their way,
wind around islands of cattail and reed
while they search for the mouth of the bay.

Gently the current flows into the sea,
now embraced by the flood of the deep;
caught in the body, from hurry set free,
it will rest in an ocean of sleep.

– Gilbert A Franke, 7/21/2011