Where the Waters Take You

Neil Harrison’s poems are inspired by his love of the outdoors and a curiosity and understanding that derives from being in and appreciating a place. His experiences as hunter and fisherman have led him not to easy answering but to mystical questioning.

And your entire concept of time wavers

as you question how you know this place.

Were you predator here, then, or prey—

For Harrison, the past—those events and thoughts that went before which make us who we are—invites our attention but remains mysterious and ultimately unknowable.

you lose yourself once more and begin

the dark, difficult passage out

to wherever the waters take you.

Wilderness, wildlife, friendship, family, humor, and Harrison’s patient, thoughtful observations suffuse his graceful poems with the beauty and wisdom of living close to the earth.

In response to something like instinct

the first word rises, others follow,

and a new migration begins

the archetypal bid for survival,

direction perhaps predetermined

back at the beginning of time,

soon lines of words almost seem to fly.