Ursula K. Le Guin, 1929-2018

I don't know how to cope with this. I have been trying to brace for this for years and it wasn't possible.

I have a different way, I have a different will,
I have a different word to say,
I am coming back by the road around the side,
by the outside way, from the other direction.

There is a valley, there are no hills around it.
There is a river, it has no banks.
There are people, they have no bodies, dancing by the river in the valley.

I have drunk the water of that river.
I am drunk my life long, my tongue is thick,
and when I dance I stumble and fall over.
When I die I will come back by the outside road
and drink the water of this river and be sober.

There is a valley, high hills around it.
There is a river, willows on its shores.
There are people, their feet are beautiful, dancing by the river in the valley.

-- Always Coming Home