Oceans versus Rivers

oceans are vast; you can't see the other shore
the water, salty, crashes evermore 
on beaches that create shores
unlike rivers that roll between banks
from one direction always moving 
oceans get higher and lower from tidal moons
that pull them this and that way 
but rivers explode with plum rain and typhoons 
I would rather sit by a river, quiet and peaceful 
then contend with the crashing incessant crashing  of waves
like the sound of cars on a highway
passing from the ocean floor.
give me a river with birds, swooping, finding sustenance
and homes for their brood
give me a river with a seat that won't get sandy 
with shoes I don't have to empty when I return home from my ride 
give me a slope to climb going upstream and 
glide on downstream when I'm tired on returning home 
not like an ocean that has the same slope both ways
it doesn't care if you're tired or invigorated
an ocean has a mind of its own and dares you to watch it 
prohibits you from swimming its rocky floor
the crashing undertow dashing sailors since times beginning 
so unlike a river with small fish and turtles, ducks and egrets
cohabiting in peaceful renditions of life's simpler ambitions
yet oceans are bigger for bigger imagination and dreams
with oceans the traveler can change courses 
following the whim of wind and directions
or get lost
with rivers there's one course that remains the same
for secure ways home

March 13, 2021

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