C.M. Rivers

"I only borrowed this dust." ~ Stanley Kunitz

Journal

  • Wondering Aloud

    Think of the way clouds roll across a big sky.  Think of the embroidery of a spider, how hard it works to put food on the table.  Think how familiar you are with the contents of your wallet, purse, kitchen cabinets, the scent of your own pillows. I wonder if this is how birds feel… Read more

  • Pearl

    Walking alone in nature can be sacred, healing and rejuvenating. The motor of your mind gradually stops its whirring and quiets down, like a swarm of locusts moving further into the distance.  Constrictions loosen.  Stale transforms to Vivifying.  You have made some space around yourself, and you are participating in creation.  The sights and sounds… Read more

  • What I Observed Last Wednesday

    Evergreen trees take a solemn stance, seem to long for rain in their crooked row, seem to pity the quivering cottonwood leaves, and decline to change for the coming snow.   Read more

  • Walking Home

    As is so often the case, it was only me at my own side, constant companion. Eyes on the next bend in the road, waving mosquitoes away unsuccessfully, rounded stones half-buried in the ground pushing at my feet through the soles of my shoes. The light softens now. Cloud-shadows of evening begin to lick the… Read more

  • Knick-Knacks

    I remember my mom yelling at my dad through the phone, and wondering when I might get to meet him.  I remember meeting him, the sound of his laugh, the slope of his shoulder, how he rubbed his feet together at the end of the day, how he took the list my mom had made… Read more

  • The Price Of Admission

    The other night I made some popcorn and settled onto the couch to watch “Blackfish”.  Somehow I missed all the buzz about it from last year, so I went into it blissfully ignorant of what I was about to learn.  What started out as a seemingly harmless documentary quickly became an animal lover’s nightmare, haunting… Read more