National Poetry Month happens to be celebrated in April, and this year, I was listed as one of ten Greek-American poets by Maria Karamitsos on her website. She highlights my poetry book Candlelit Journey: Poetry from the Heart. Maria is a journalist and the founder/publisher/editor of WindyCity Greek Magazine. She currently writes for Neo Magazine.
Here is the link to the listing:
https://www.mariakaramitsos.com/2025/04/national-poetry-month-10-greek-american-poets/
Here is a little background to this poem. I have been noticing a dichotomy between people who strive to get ahead, to achieve, to reach their potential and those who accept what is handed to them, doing the bare minimal, and not achieving their potential. Of course, I am generalizing, and there is a danger in generalizing, but for the sake of the poem, I simplified my reasoning about the complexities of life.
I tend to be in the group that achieves, and sometimes it is difficult to stop, because stopping means death. Anyway, I came across a passage about the river from a novel, suggested recently by a member of a forum, and it inspired me to write this poem about the river.
