"When you have exhausted everything else
how many times
can you return
to the same river
to replenish yourself?
Eventually
won’t you be unable
to find anything fresh?
How long will it take you
to become empty
of what you most require?"

That question makes sense
in metaphor
but not in reality.
Your rejuvenation
occurs at the riverside, sure,
but the the water itself
gets replenished
by sources outside the human condition.

Despite what I may take
from the theoretical river,
the rains fall
and the water collects
and life-giving properties
are made available again
from the banks.
It doesn’t matter how often I lap at the lake.
I alone cannot steal its best properties.
Perhaps in metaphor
but certainly not in reality.

"That argument
clearly
would make any poem
pretty damned prosaic."

Sure
but how often has this been done before?