Dearest H,
Who am I to try to write you a love letter? I am no Rumi with Shams to guide me and light the way. If only I possessed the lyrical language of Hafez or could write of love like Gibran. No Neruda or Shakespeare, I am incapable of composing a love sonnet. I cannot elevate you in poetry with the attentive grace of Mary Oliver. There is no Cyrano to do this for me. I am but a mere word pauper who nonetheless loves you without reservation.
You are the flowing altar which I worship before every morning whether high above on the cliff or down below walking alongside you. You are the one I turn to throughout the day for solace, quiet moments of respite from the noise and chaos of a battered world, sustenance for my spirit.
Mesmerizing on a sunny day adorned in twinkly fairy lights dancing across your surface, you are ready for admiration, and I cannot look away. You still me when you are as placid as a sheet of ice, quicken me when restless with feisty whitecaps. I am your thirsty student waiting to hear what my teacher has to say.
Host extraordinaire, double-crested cormorant, red-tailed hawk, eagle, osprey, mourning dove, ring-billed gull are but a few who feast on your hospitality. Battles have been fought for control of you. Great artists have reverenced you in paintings. Giver and sustainer of life, part ancient tidal estuary changing directions with the tides, thoroughfare for commerce, recreational playground, barges, yachts, ferries, sailboats, canoes, kayaks all traverse your waters.
Oh, glorious Hudson, how, my beloved, can we ever repay you? Perhaps not simply with paintings or words of praise and hearts wrapped in wonder, but in tender, lasting care so that you may continue to flow ever on, evermore.
Forever yours,
oxj
A bow of gratitude to Waterspirit for their eco-spirituality work, especially around precious water, and for inspiring me to write a love letter to the Hudson River. Happy 25th! You can learn more about them here: www.waterspirit.org
Divine Ready 
Extraordinary! You are a true poet, even if you don’t know it, Jan. One of the very best love letters I have ever read. The Hudson is very lucky to have such a devoted and dedicated admirer. Thank you for that link. Will definitley check it out. You never cease to amaze.
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I love this so much, Jan. I love the idea of writing a love letter to our favorite body of water. I love “feisty whitecaps” and the images of placid, twinkling . . . . lovely imagery. And writing an ode or sonnet or halleluiah chorus to the Hudson — just wonderful. I need to do the same for my dear Chincoteague!
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