Step by eager step,

he climbed the wooded mountain path

alongside the rushing, roaring river

on the eastern slope,

sweat dampening his green cotton shirt

and dripping down his legs,

the steel-gray water

surging over boulders

and careening through shallows,

until he arrived at the falls,

and stripping off his clothes

waded fully into the pool

with the green trout

under the cascading water.

It thundered and it roared,

beating his chest,

pounding upon his back

and running through his hair.

It was cleansing him

through and through,

cooling his thirsty soul

down to the marrow of his bones.