The Water’s Work Song

My love, I would tarry
a while on your mouth
To lie here beside you
is all that I want
but if I don’t go build
a house in the lane
we will freeze when it snows
and sneeze when it rains

A house you can make
with much thought and sweat
To make a handshake
is much harder yet
And much harder still
is to live till you’re dead
but the hardest is giving
without wanting to get I took my noon rest
by a mountain stream
and watched how the water
touches all things
as it splashes down
among slippery stones