Sierra’s Waterfall
You had a name long before Europeans
came upon you and called
these mountains, “Jagged saw-teeth,”
long before people crossed the Bering Straits
and wandered along your banks picking berries, fishing, hunting,
farming reeds for basket weaving.
Your name had a terrible power to break or calm,
sweeping over mossy patches on granite boulders,
cascading cleanly, like an arrow in flight.
Now, you yield it to those patient enough,
like the pines growing on either side,
to listen and wait.
Even one syllable of it freezes the mind,
implodes into peace, but only when you pass it on.
Like the water thundering down the mountain or floating
as cloud on its top, it belongs to no one but itself.
Raphael Block has lived on three continents and resides happily in Northern California. A long-time meditator, he breathes in wonder at Earth’s and our own rhythmic ebb and flow. He is the author of five poetry books, most recently, The Dreams We Share, and produced a monthly Earth-Love Newsletter (2016 – 2025). To learn more about Raphael, please visit his website, raphaelblock.com, where you can listen to three audiobooks and watch a National Geographic-selected five-minute documentary.
You had a name long before Europeans
came upon you and called
these mountains, “Jagged saw-teeth,”
long before people crossed the Bering Straits
and wandered along your banks picking berries, fishing, hunting,
farming reeds for basket weaving.
Your name had a terrible power to break or calm,
sweeping over mossy patches on granite boulders,
cascading cleanly, like an arrow in flight.
Now, you yield it to those patient enough,
like the pines growing on either side,
to listen and wait.
Even one syllable of it freezes the mind,
implodes into peace, but only when you pass it on.
Like the water thundering down the mountain or floating
as cloud on its top, it belongs to no one but itself.
Raphael Block has lived on three continents and resides happily in Northern California. A long-time meditator, he breathes in wonder at Earth’s and our own rhythmic ebb and flow. He is the author of five poetry books, most recently, The Dreams We Share, and produced a monthly Earth-Love Newsletter (2016 – 2025). To learn more about Raphael, please visit his website, raphaelblock.com, where you can listen to three audiobooks and watch a National Geographic-selected five-minute documentary.
