Hello painted rock
Our heads have not come to meet in a long while.
Where have I been?
Too long have I been in a prison like no other,
I have been in the city.
Too long have I imagined the sentinel street lamps to be the great
trees that guard your banks, and the lights from the millions of
windows to be the stars.
Too long have I listened to the mechanical birds chirping in concrete
canopies and in the mass of people’s pockets.
Too long have I flowed in the smog choked stream of traffic. Wishing
for the journey’s end.
Too long have I been in too many places at once. In either flesh and
bone or in the electrical breeze buzzing from morning till night.
I have missed you Chattahoochee.
I have missed your strong and peaceful stride through the channels of
present time.
I have missed the humbling quiet gaze of your guardians,
And the brotherly embrace of their boughs.
I have missed the quiet.
I have missed the peace.
I have missed being in the here and now and not the next.
I have missed you telling me, it is alright, and that it is ok and
that I am part of the painting on your walls and will always be.
– Ben Packer
I wrote this when I was in Georgia for a spell. It was the first time I have ever been to the river. Seeing it reminded me of how much I was missing living the city life.
I currently live in New York.