Gone to See the River Man

by Kristopher Triana

There’s only two places anyone can find peace—the woods and the grave.

The people we make suffer stay inside of us longer and more deeply than those who we bring joy, don’t you think?

“River Man ain’t wantin’ nobody’s soul. What he wants is for your soul to be as bad as his.

“So if you hear me howlin’, where the whisperin’ cedars blow, you’ll know I lost my darlin’, to the waters down below.”

“That’s what The River Man do. He ain’t gotta ask ya to do nothin’ evil. He just bring out the evil that’s already in ya.

Truth is pain—sharp and deep and merciless. Only love can ease the suffering, for love is the sharing of those truths.