All Text, Music, and Illustrations Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins

SECRET PATHS

Words and Music by Jim Robbins

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Now we know all the secret paths
along the river. Today the ravens
are gone, so are the butterflies
that jewelled the sand.

Graffiti defaces the rock,
and trash, too much for us
to clean up, covers the little beach
where we once were alone.

We have forgiven each other
so much that forgiveness hardly matters
anymore, the bats softly
flitting around us, skimming

the water as the skyline begins
to glow, the pure, intense moon
rising behind a bare oak.
Now we know all the secret paths

along the river, the bats softly
flitting around us, skimming
the water as the skyline
begins to glow, the pure,

intense moon rising, its
terrible craters so clear
in the cold
still air.

SECRET PATHS

   Years ago, my wife and I would travel almost every weekend to the North Fork of the Kaweah River. We especially loved a spot that no one else knew about, or so we thought. We were so confident that we were alone that one day we decided to go skinny dipping. We swam, shocked into motion by snowmelt, to the other side, and then back again. Just as we were sloshing out of the water, we heard laughter from the trail above. I sprinted up the hill on sharp oak leaves and hid behind a bush. She dashed off in a different direction. After a while, I noticed her down below, pacing back and forth next to the river, fully clothed. Even seeing her in the distance, I was still unsure about stepping out of the shade. Finally, I inched toward the beach and quickly dressed while the intruders were battling upriver against the current. My wife was mad at me for making her wait so long.
   That evening we watched the moon rise above the mountain as bats skimmed the surface of the water. The battered moon silhouetted a bare oak at the top of the hill. Later I realized that it is a perfect symbol: Everything gets battered by experience—sometimes through suffering we learn to empathize with others and learn to forgive. And I believed that my wife and I understood each other so well that we hardly ever needed to forgive each other anymore. My wife at one point loved to sing this song. Perhaps the theme resonated with her to some degree, but I realize now that maybe I shouldn't be so certain about anyone's ability to forgive.