Waters that once sparkled
As they vibrantly ran
Through pastures and hillsides
In which fish did swim
In the heat of the summer
As we set on the river’s edge
Watching the boats go sail on
And dreaming as clouds drift slowly by
As boys we frolicked
In the woods that are near
And fished from these banks
That we held so dear
Years have passed
Since the days of our youth
What once was pure beauty?
Now destroyed in a swoop
I now sit on the bank
Which was once nature’s playground in time?
To see rising towers
And roads that wind
The pastures we played in
The woods once we did hunt
Now part of the cityscape
And skies filled with smut
Where has that beauty gone?
That once we did share
As rambunctious boys
Who ran wildly there?
Those days of summer
No longer exist
As I sit in wonder
Remembering sweet bliss
How time has gone by
As did those days of our youth
Disappearing so quickly
Like life’s uneventful truths.
On occasion we’d gather
Like we did back then
Remembering those days of summer
And times shared between friends
As we lay underneath the willow
Looking towards the sky
As the clouds
Drifted slowly by
It was some ten years
We laid him to rest
That friend of mine
I knew him best
Secrets we shared
And dreams once told no longer will they be
As summer turns to winter
And old men return to the sea