United Cavers Exploration Team

A miracle birth in a moment of time

I stood on a glacier, close to the sky
In the final few days of the year
And I witnessed a miracle birth
In the glint of an ice cave’s tear

I stood in an ice cave, as blue as the sea
And I watched as the tears rolled away
And they gathered about my feet
Then flowed outside, to the day

And the water had new found freedom
And was eager to start on its way
There, I witnessed the birth of a river
And such was the magic, that day

And gravity called to water
And the river started to flow
For the water was eager to travel
And the river was ready to go

With a thousand mile journey before it
The river was set on its path
So it tumbled and rolled over boulders
With gathering torment and wrath

And it tumbled toward the valley
In answer to gravity’s calls
And threw itself over the edges
Of precipitous high waterfalls

I followed it down to the valley
With the speed that a mortal can score
And it raced between canyons of sandstone
With white water flying before

And crazy canoeists fought it
And the water fought back with delight
They were fighting a dragon with paddles
But the dragon could put up a fight

Now parts of the river sank deep
To visit the limestone below
Where it widened the caverns and stream ways
That showed it the way it should go


And the caverns and portals were marvelous
Never seen by mankind to this day
But the water that flowed there has seen them
When the turbulent stream passed that way

Out of the valleys and onto the plain
The river flowed shallow and wide
And it slowed to the speed of a walker
And I strolled along at its side

Now the river was joined by its cousins
Coming in from the east and the north
And they all flowed together as one
And a mightier river flowed forth

And the river brought life to the desert
A ribbon of green weaved its way
And the gift of fresh water was welcome
To any who wanted to stay

As the river was crossing the desert
An entourage stayed at its flanks
Of fields and trees and humanity
And many things green on the banks

Now fishermen found work in the shallows
And boatmen crossed hither and back
And herdsmen watered their cattle
Along the riverside track

But the sea was restless and waiting
Like a monster trapped where it lay
And my water was drawn on toward it
Getting closer with each passing day

And the voice of gravity called from the sea
And the water had naught to resist
And gravity called it home
As sirens might call from the mist

Now it mingled with salt on the strand
And it tasted the taste of the sea
And then it was part of the ocean
And forever, perhaps, it will be

I stood on the shoreline in awe
At the vast and magnificent sea
And it spread out from here to the sky
And the water was now truly free

And clouds formed over the ocean
And they rose to inhabit the sky
It was there, they met the wind
Who whispered they might say goodbye

Then he took them on a long journey
By a vast and circular way
Over the ocean and over the land
To pause above mountains one day

And snowflakes grew in the clouds
Beautiful crystals of snow
But gravity called them down
To the glacier waiting below

And now the glacier had them
For ten thousand years or more
Trapped on a mountain side
To live in the glaciers core

But even a glacier can never resist
The mercy less slide and heave
That draws it down the mountain
When gravity pulls at its sleeve

So one day, many years from now
When the earth has forgotten me
Some crystals of ice will melt into tears
And leave the glacier, bound for the sea