Blessed of the River

It had been said that an angel lived in the river

“For years, it had been said that an angel lived in the river.”

~~A. Manette Ansay, “River Angel”

Photo by Anna Gru on Unsplash

He was a beautiful baby boy.

People who saw him stopped just to talk

so they could play with his blonde locks

and coo at him in nonsense.

His mother was pleased by the way he smiled back at them.

He played nice with the kittens

never pulling their tails

and the birds would fly low while he played,

floating stick boats down the river,

just to be near him.

His father was a big, booming man

with golden hair like his son’s,

who had waited a lifetime

to spend it with a son.

They prayed nightly for a baby

and the woman would cry,

and the man would promise God anything

if they could just have a son.

His mother wasn’t far away,