A mink floats through the sparkling water.
His slender body shines – brown fur slicked
back. His whiskers twitch into a smile.

I notice a huge mass of leaves clogging
up the river ahead of him. The current
is too strong for him to turn around now. What'll
happen when he runs into it? Will he be sucked in?
Will he get tangled and drown?
I watch with bated breath as he arrives
to this death trap.

He dips under the water and pops
up on the other side, showing hardly any effort.

I smile to myself. If only our lives
were that simple; if only we could duck
under our problems and leave them behind.

Instead, we have to fight our way through the marsh
before we can go back to floating.