Minnehaha seducing Hiawatha by the falls

"Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!"
Stanza X of "The Song of Hiawatha" by Longfellow


When it is dry,
a trickle of water
curves down this bed,
licks the lips of this stone ledge
and lyrically descends
to the bed below
desperately stretching to reach the river.

After the storms,
the water swells
and overflows the banks,
writhing,
gathering strength and speed,
racing to burst out
and fall
spraying all those below.

In a temperate season,
the water is smooth,
langorous and silky.
The soft tips of rock
reveal a path
from one shore to another.

Again
and again,
you take me into your arms
for the journey.

This poem is really a love poem for the Minnehaha creek and falls in Minneapolis.