CAUTIOUS FLOW
ALM 92, August 2026
POETRY
The River knows something my hands does not
Life and destruction
Its murky brown and filled with stories passed down
We are the same but different
It knows how to go with the flow
Three major lines intersecting, even when pulled in several directions
Me, I don’t know where to go
I’ve always been too cautious
I tend to let the experience of life slip through my grasp
Much like the waters of the river
I wade through shallow people
At times there are strong currents that lead to clarity
I’ve always been too cautious
My skin is murky brown
Much like the river I am a liquid soul in a structured body
Although it can enhance life, it can take life
Its best not to test the waters
But it and I are the same
I am traveler and just might slip through your grasp
Because I’ve always been too cautious
Swimming upstream in a polluted environment
On the verge of self purification
Because decomposition was beginning to set in
I had to let the waters wash over me so that I could be serene
Those three major lines remind me
We are the same but different
I've always been too cautious
With my life, heart and head
But maybe caution kept me alive,
long enough to learn the river’s rhythm
I no longer resist the current, I move with it
The river knows what my hands forgot,
and as I reach into its depths,
I finally remember how to be.
Alizé Bland is from Philadelphia, PA. When she is not writing, she can be found practicing yoga or taking pictures of her cats, Swiss Cheese and Salem.
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