“The road up is the same as the road down,”
“You cannot step in the same river twice.”
Snippets in my head of Heraclitus,
As foot strikes ground, as breath enters my chest
And as breath leaves again. The earth is brown
And light green after rain, earth doesn’t rest
But changes. Alterations must suffice
For our eternity—we call it time—
A hill for us is something we must climb
We must descend. We think it’s there to spite us,
Though to itself it does not rise or fall,
The foothill and the summit are as one,
And all gleams gold at once, the setting sun,
And all gleams gold. At once, the setting sun,
The foothill and the summit are as one,
Though to itself it does not rise or fall,
We must descend. We think it’s there to spite us,
A hill. For us it’s something we must climb
For our eternity. We call it time,
What changes. Alterations must suffice,
A light green after rain. Earth doesn’t rest
But breathes leaves again. The earth is brown
As foot strikes ground, as breath enters my chest
Snippets in my head of Heraclitus,
“You cannot step in the same river twice,”
“The road up is the same as the road down.”
A. E. Stallings
Also by A. E. Stallings (see all)
- Afterglow: An Appreciation of Robert B. Shaw’s What Remains to Be Said - September 22, 2022
- Paying (Homage to) the Ferryman - May 31, 2021
- The Poet on The Road to Sparta - October 23, 2018