Free Flowing Awe

Photo by Emma Carlson

Free Flowing Awe

Immense and incredible waterfalls -
Öxarárfoss, Gullfoss, Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss.
But it’s Gljúfurárfoss that deeply stirs my soul.
The spring-fed Gljúfurá
drops over black lava cliffs
then seemingly disappears.
We follow the stream
through a narrow passageway
that opens to a misty, magical wildness
 we share with a few other travelers.
Someone offers to take what we later realize
is ‘the photo’ for this place,
upon a boulder in the cavern.
And we’re grateful so we return the favor.
But then we stay for a bit
to feel it, be in it,
literally soak it all in.
Otto explores the stream
with Dada by his side.
Mama (Emma) and I
 share a few more moments
 of free-flowing awe.
Perhaps it was a sort of
accumulated energy
 from all of the falls,
 the changes they bring,
and sharing it as a family
that cleared the way.
From the soles of my feet,
to the core of my being,
to the tips of my fingers -
I open to a beautiful rush of me.
This settles to a sort of awakening
as the power of my very own love,
so naturally extended to others,
permeates, saturates, circulates
 throughout my being.
I am in awe, still.

Sarah Carlson
May 20, 2024