Waterfall above
Cool water swiftly flowing
Into rock-lined pool
Ripples shimmering across
Roaring, rushing powerfully.
Waterfall at Graveyard Fields, used by common license from commons.wikimedia.org
That’s the first thing that came to me when I first thought about an amazing waterfall at Graveyard Fields, a hiking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina. We had just walked around a small bend in the path, and in front of us was a beautiful waterfall. It wasn’t the kind of waterfall I had seen before, while it still had the fluffy white foam on it like most waterfalls I had seen, in some places it also was as smooth as glass, and in one small place near the top, the water was making small ripples, like waves smoothly flowing down. Below it, a deep, clear, rock-lined pool with polished ripples flowing across, reflected the tall waterfall and the clear, blue sky above.
The memory of that day is still in my mind, the awe of the moment, and the wonder at such a beautiful thing, the peace and calmness of that moment, and the knowledge that those rocks, those pools, had been that way for years, and would be that way for many more years, was just one of the most amazing moments for me.
Evan Varner
Beautiful words, Evan.