Riehlife Contemplation: What are the rivers you need and want to cross? Jimmy Cliff’s “Too Many Rivers to Cross” can be used as a writing prompt and a life prompt, too.

Jimmy Cliff’s “Too Many Rivers To Cross” was one of the sound track songs from my time in Botswana and Ghana in the 1970s. There were a lot of rivers to cross, and I learned how to cross them…not all at once, but slowly, and one by one. This also made a great slow dance tune at the end of an evening. Curiously, I recalled the lyric as “So many riviers to cross” and I recall the line “I beg for time.”

Too Many Rivers To Cross
Jimmy Cliff

Many rivers to cross
But I can’t seem to find my way over
Wandering I am lost
As I travel along the White Cliffs of Dover

Many rivers to cross
And it’s only my will that keeps me alive
I’ve been licked, washed up for years
And I merely survive because of my pride

And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s such a drag to be on your own
My woman left me and she didn’t say why
Well, I guess I’ll have to cry

Many rivers to cross
But just where to begin I’m playing for time
There have been times I find myself
Thinking of committing some dreadful crime

Yes, I’ve got many rivers to cross
But I can’t seem to find my way over
Wandering, I am lost
As I travel along the white cliffs of Dover

Yes, I’ve got many rivers to cross
And I merely survive because of my will.

So, dear readers, what are the rivers that you need and want to cross…both metaphorically and literally?