Islands in the river
Rivers in the desert
Deserts in the ocean
Oceans on the moon
Moons in the window
Windows in the valley
Valleys in the island
Islands in the river
Islands in the river
Rivers in the mountain
Mountains on the plain
Plains in the stratosphere
Stratospheres in the gulf stream
Gulf streams in the glacier
Glaciers on the island
Islands in the river
Feathers float above me
Starlight gently gloves me
Sunlight that loves me
Laying on the beach
Beaches flow behind me
Places that remind me
You can always find me
On my island in the river
Islands in the river
Rivers in the snow
Snows in the summer
Summers in the surf
Surf’s up in the city
Cities in the cloud
Clouds on the island
Islands in the river
Love that holds me
Sweetness softly scolds me
Surprise beholds me
Playing in a dream
Dreams try to be me
Life comes to free me
You can always see me
On my island in the river
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
No relation to the song "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, which I hadn't heard at the time that I wrote this! I was in the Israeli army, in the thick of my service, when I wrote this, inspired by (of all things) the way the water my fellow soldiers and I had used to wash down our mobile howitzer flowed through the Jordan Valley dirt beneath our feet on its way to seeking its own level. The lyric idea came from a wish to find my own peaceful place away from the rigors of military life and the constant threat of war, not at all dissimilar from Styx's "Boat on the River." The music was inspired by Nik Kershaw's "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," a huge hit in Israel, Europe, and the UK but just about completely unheard in the US. Never recorded or performed.