Summer crawls around the bend,
Simply paced,
Too shy for rafting.
Waters green with algae,
Albeit beautiful with nostalgia.

We boys see adventure around its banks.
Rocky shores climb into valley walls;
Foliage ranges from shrubbery to trees and back.
We boys climb and rise and grow around its banks.

Detritus litters the thin river sand.
We ignore can after can floating by.
Trash clings to this boyhood haven,
Bad memories swept into the reeds
Of our minds.

Midday heat to full moonlight,
We Toms and Hucks walk the waterfronts.
Winter night brings end to summer day.
Freedom returns to the mundane.