ELIZABETH AND THE RIVER
The river with it's lazy flow
Has seen the children come and go;
It knew our Mother in her youth
And watched her spirit seeking Truth.
The little girl with bright, round eyes
Has dreamed her dreams and watched the skies,
And from her home the loving ways
Have set the patterns all her days.
She left the river long ago,
But in her heart she'll always know
The murmur of the times long past,
The gifts for which she never asked,
The courage she would always hold,
The smile that turned the world to gold;
And we, her children, always knew
Her warmth would hold us the years through.
Love, like rivers, will ever flow--
We pass it on and watch it grow--
The river moves to meet the sea
In timeless cycles, endlessly;
So from our Mother we have learned
That gifts of love are gifts returned.
by Jaquelin S. Reed
for her Mother, Elizabeth Field, on her 70th birthday
February 10, 1979