RJ--in rivers--with our realities

The river is here again. Flowing thick and wide, way past the screen and off the keyboard on either side. You see the sheen flicker and dapple on the cresting wavelets as they pass under the desk, under the monitor. Stare at the top of your screen into the distance on the river. Imagine how you would breathe at the tip of that broad island, the tops of its trees still green--even in the onrushing winter.

Your hand reaches out to touch the water and passes through the monitor as if it were merely the reflection of a window from somewhere else. Do not turn to look at the cause of the reflection. Trust us. Put your other hand out. Stand up. Push off the carpet. Push away your chair. You won't need it.

Feel the warm smooth plastic of the monitor pass against your forehead as you tense to dive. Bring your hands, which now seem somehow foreshortened in the glossy screen, together, palms touching in the electric light. Bend your head in the proper dive position. Push off the carpet with all your might.

a river's secrets / depend on / how much / we need to / configure / its destinations / with our realities

if there are / other waters / we can not / know them / all we see / in rivers / is their presence