Stepping Through the Canyon – a poem by Daniel Thomas

Stepping Through the Canyon


Stepping slowly up 
the creek in Rattlesnake Canyon,
I balanced on boulder, then rock,
each perch skirted
by the water’s effluence,
its restless flow, each
step a movement into
the hidden hills of morning.
Like everything that matters
in this life we’re said to lead,
what happened next did not
come from me, but came over me—
like a crossing into 
the oak’s long shadow—
this ache, this dark song,
this pleasure in the breeze,
the water’s chime, the endless
time borne within 
the moment.  I moved, 
but did not move, breathed, 
but did not breathe, my lightened 
heart was certain it would never 
cease its knocking at the door, 
and even the birds
whistled a keening melody,
that would not pass, but draped
the air like silken pennants.

Daniel Thomas’s third poetry collection, River of Light, was published by Shanti Arts Publishing in 2025. His previous books are Leaving the Base Camp at Dawn and Deep Pockets. He has published poems in many journals, including Southern Poetry Review, Nimrod, Poetry Ireland Review, Vita Poetica, Radix, Atlanta Review, and others. More info at danielthomaspoetry.com