The River’s End

Just beyond the fence, a river runs fast and deep,
the early snow melting. A think worth watching,
noisy with speed and overflowing.

There is a boy on the safe side of the fence,
watching with a mix of wonder and wondering
what it would be like to wash down the river.

Where would it take him and how fast?
Could he, would he survive? Is there fun to be had?
Adventure. A mix of fear and releif

that he is penned in by someone else’s fence.
He and you are too alike, living half in wonder,
half in fear, a slightly insane desire to climb over

and seek the river’s end.

About this poem

I see a lot of myself in Children. I have never decided if that is good or bad.

The picture was taken in Sunderland, VT. The boy .indeed looking in wonder. The river was indeed high. He is probably a teenager by now, and I sometimes wonder about him

Tom