River of blue cut through the valleySwept past the
willows and the sandy barRan so swift,
locked in my mem'ryBut the way things were is not the
way things areWe used to swim in the crook of its armIn
the summer heat who could be blamedAvoided the rapids
as best as we couldNever thought that that stream could
be tamedLong ago I gave up that riverside valleyTraded
coulees for towers of steelAbandoned the vistas and
valleys of childhoodFor the things that they told me
were realNo more would I run with the speed of a coltCross
the gravel down by water sideTo race with the twig
I threw in at the bendCouldn't beat it though god knows
I triedNow the river's not running as fast as it didThere's
a dam there restricting the flowAnd I don't run either
as fast as I couldGuess that river and I have grown
oldNow it's strange in returning to places of youthIt
seems your memory has made a mistakeCause the place
that once scared you with white water runningHas been
turned by decree to a lakeMakes me think about how
too I smoothed out the wrinklesMade the waters as calm
as you pleaseMakes me think about how that river and
IWere both happier when we ran freeNow the river's
not running as fast as it didThere's a dam there restricting
the flowAnd I don't run either as fast as I couldGuess
that river and I have grown oldGuess that river and I have grown old