La Catarata de La Paz
Awash in uncertainty, I wander
to this waterfall on the road
to San Miguel, not expecting it
to strike out like an archangel, thrust
its sword against my fear, brush
its bright blade against my face.
And yet, I find peace in watching
this army of water advance with such
conviction. It does not argue
with the cliff, or worry with the weight
of all that moving. It does not ask
for anything but belief in the way it goes.
All day, all night, La Paz flows with a certainty
I cannot find in myself. It pours out its power
like a soldier of God. From the mouth
of the rocks, it prays for me until I can
do no less for myself, begging for that same
surge of cool resolve, that sense of going right.
Linda Culp Holmes holds a degree in English literature. She has won several poetry awards from organizations in East Tennessee and has had work published in the Red Branch Review, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Monterey Poetry Review, and the Ekphrastic Review, among others. Her non-fiction book, If I Am So Lucky: A Portrait of a Man in Perilous Times, 1862-1865, was published by Heritage Books, Inc. in 2023. She lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Amethyst Review 