A special poem about a path that I use to walk as a child that gave me time to think. |
-The River Bend- by Keaton Foster Back When I was ten Just a kid I use to walk a path The river bend Every day And each night On my way To school On my way back To my broken home I could tell you Each stone Every broken branch The number of right turns And left The amount of steps That it would take To get me where It was leading me And to return The path was long Grueling at times Pristine at others It was close to the water Often running right at the edge Of the swirling blackness Of an unforgiving river Many of boys and girls Some older Some quite younger than I Have died in that terrible river It is ten stories deep And below its smooth top There is a turbulent vortex Of gripping currents There are some old trees Hiding down in the depths Way down into the blackness Just waiting to ensnare anything Or anyone who gets close I was always afraid As I walked along the river bend I was always concerned that I A rather awkward and clumsy child Could someday fall in Be swept away and drowned Taken down into the blackness Never to be returned Over and over again In my hypersensitive head I would contemplates such things I would think of how it would feel To die in such a terrible way I would ponder if Heaven would have me And what would I say to God above I would speculate my parent’s feelings Would they truly miss me Or would they somehow be glad Would they say that I was a fool To have ever been there And thus got what I deserved Would they care more in death Than they ever did for me in life For many years I walked that path Thinking, broadening, careful introspection All became part of my survival mechanism Many crude ideas were created There along the shore Of certain death and destination I have since given birth to some But there are far many more that remain In a constant state of gestation The river bend Taught me more than most More than I could have wished I have been back since Walked along that same path It is well worn No doubt there are others Both past and present That continue to share In such a journey… The River Bend Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2014. |