Users Who Spiked
INDIANA 1986
Private Notes
Private Notes
Notes
I was floating down a slow moving river
on an old dusty inner tube
pulled from a long dead truck
the water flowed like it had nowhere to be
none of us did
and that was life at the time with no responsibilities
other than laying on the hot rubber
letting the current take us wherever it wanted
the trees along the river banks were in full bloom
but some were naked and dead
I could hear the water trickling through the branches
hanging lifeless in the river
giving the birds something to perch on
as they rested for a moment in the hot sun
occasionally there was the echoing crack of a tree branch
and rustling in the thick matted leaves
from an unseen animal making its way along the shore
there were no clouds that day and the sun was hot
we would eventually come upon a train trestle
stopping to climb up to the tracks
and jump back into the shallow river
I can say there was a certain amount of fear
looking down at the river from so high above
but it quickly faded, as we were young
and there is an absence of fear in youth
we did this for hours until we were sunburned and tired
and would do it many times before summer was over
it has been more than twenty years
and now I stare lazily at the ceiling from my bed
there are responsibilities to so many things
the days are filled with nothing but fear
the sun is blinding and kills you with cancer
the flowing river is a little quicker
and the path more determined yet uncertain
and I sometimes feel like I am drowning
although, I do sometimes still listen for the birds
or the slow trickle of a sluggish river
life isn't as poetic as it once was
but I guess it is what you make of it
if you can make something of it
and a fleeting memory is still better
than staring blankly at your grandchildren
when they ask you what you did in your youth
Comments
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Love this piece. And oh how relatable! Age and experience changes perspective and make you appreciate the little things - whether they be from the past or present 😊 What part of Indiana? My Dad was from Martinsville.
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I used to love floating down the river. Great descriptions in this one!
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Very nice juxtaposition of seeming to do nothing which you later realize had more value than doing something now.
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Love your poetry! You really set the scene and tell a story without overdoing it.
Connersville then later in life Bloomington and Greenwood so I definitely know where Martinsville is!