River and the Road * Lyrics and music by Archie Fisher
(verified with Archie Fisher Aug. 8, 2014 by Maeve)

Often when I think of you I see a Border river,
Changing with the melting snows, both there and gone forever.
You're the river, I'm the road that runs along your ridges
Giving you the right of way, and always building bridges.
River, ramble as you will. This road's a cruel, hard master
And I can't slow the water's flow, or travel any faster.

I know there's a crossroads on this route I'm bound to travel
Straight ahead's a long, smooth way, the other's dirt and gravel.
And the hardest thing you'll ever learn to bear as you grow older
Is to watch a dear friend walk away without a turn of shoulder.
I can be as hurt as you although I seldom show it
I'm so easy-going, that I'm gone before you know it.

One day you will reach the sea and I'll be on a mountain
Running out of old dirt track beside a flowing fountain.
Wondering, "Is this the place where everything got started-
The wellspring at the road end for the lost and broken-hearted?"
And I'll become the river and the road I know will lead me
Back to where you made the turn that showed you didn't need me.

For everywhere the heron flies the winding river follows
And in turn she claims the skies, then stalks along the shallows
And often when I think of you I see a Border river,
Changing with the melting snows, both there and gone forever.

*From Archie Fisher's cd "Windward Away".