pilar to the taos junction bridge

One of my favorite places in northern New Mexico is the 6-mile drive along the Rio Grande River, from Pilar to the Taos Junction Bridge.

Excerpts from Mary Oliver’s At The River Clarion

“I don’t know who God is exactly.
But I’ll tell you this.

I was sitting in the river named Clarion, on a water splashed stone

and all afternoon I listened to the voices of the river talking.

Whenever the water struck a stone it had something to say,

and the water itself, and even the mosses trailing under the water.

And slowly, very slowly, it became clear to me what they were saying.

Said the river I am part of holiness.

And I too, said the stone.

And I too, whispered the moss beneath the water.

…And still, pressed deep into my mind, the river
keeps coming, touching me, passing by on its
long journey, its pale, infallible voice
singing.”