The Road Around the Side

[asher553]

I have a different way, I have a different will,
I have a different word to say.
I am coming back by the road around the side,
by the outside way, from the other direction.

There is a valley, there are no hills around it.
There is a river, it has no banks.
There are people, they have no bodies,
dancing by the river in the valley.

I have drunk the water of that river.
I am drunk my life long, my tongue is thick,
and when I dance I stumble and fall over.
When I die I will come back by the outside road
and drink the water of this river and be sober.

There is a valley, high hills around it.
There is a river, willows on its shores.
There are people, their feet are beautiful,
dancing by the river in the valley.

- Ursula K. Le Guin, from "Always Coming Home"