The River and the Fisherman
A moment along the Mekong River in Laos They say the Mekong is a river only in the way a body is a body. Those who live along its banks step toward the water with a quietness that borders on reverence, as though approaching an elder who has seen too much to be impressed by human urgency. The young man who came each morning did not bow, but he paused. That small hesitation was his offering. His name was Somchai,…