charged.

i went down to the river today. it was a cold morning, windy and wet, and i was on my usual rainy-day high. there was nowhere i needed to be, i had the entire day to wander if i chose.

i don't know why i headed over to the river, but it was perfect in a drizzly, muzzled way. if there was anyone there it made no difference, i was the only one outside, the only person being touched by the wind and rain.

the river made a little repeating surf sound against the sloping cement dock. shore birds cried once or twice, but mostly hung onto the ribbons of the air rippling out over the water.

there was a coal barge out against the far banks, hardly moving against the current. closer and coming downstream was an empty riverboat, curling sideways in the flow of the river in order to make the turn into the sheltered bay. i watched it, knowing it was possible someone i knew was on it.

i walked down to the river today, crossed through the floodwalls and stood because it was too wet to sit. i thought of nothing save for the sounds and sights. i opened up to the wind pinking my cheeks and dancing up my hair, to the water's soft whispering talk, to the low sounds of the barge coming home after a month out on the river.