It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that's where the river will know
it's not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.


This poem is in the public domain.

Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931), best known for his book, The Prophet, was born in Lebanon to an impoverished family. He moved with his mother and siblings to Boston at the age of 12, but returned to Lebanon three years later to attend college. He was studying art in Paris when a family death brought him back to Boston. Gibran ultimately settled in New York, where he gained recognition for his poems and short stories as well as for his drawings and paintings. Published in both English and Arabic, Gibran claimed that the Bible had the greatest influence on his writing. (He was a Catholic.) He also greatly admired the work of William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Syrian writer Francis Marrash.