Canoeing the Mississippi - Part 1

Overflow of the waters of Lake Itaska You carry your wealth to the waiting world, Mighty Mississippi, half savior, half sewer, Plant and animal wastes, dissolved minerals, Venting prairie deluge, dividing a Nation, Exposed aquifer of Great Plains, home of Buffalo ghosts, And their equally threatened ancestor, the prairie dog. Standing at your mouth I can wade your depths, Even jump your width in places, Though it is more difficult than the boy imagined, And the winter's overgrowth problematic. Your lightning like flash across the land (1) Has haunted my dreams the whole of my life And pulled at my soul like the moan of distant trains. Now I am here at last, my dream becoming liquid, Wooden oars, tent, canoe and provisions waiting, Dr. Peppers stored in a sturdy ice chest. I am more than ready to see the world through your eyes, And to meet the sea as well in your company (if fate allows.) My wife a novice and myself not much more, We launch ourselves, glissando (2) toward New Orlean. Brian Johnston Sept. 19, 2014 Poet's Notes: Everything in this poem is true as I can best remember. I was 28 at the time and my wife Kathy was 24 so it has been a few years ago that we did this. The eight chapters so far are not the end of this poem. I have at least 3 more chapters planned, one on portaging around dams, one on going through locks (beginning in Minneapolis-St. Paul) , one on leaving the river after traveling over 1,000 miles in 7.5 weeks, and then a final clean up including lessons learned and post trip consequences. (1) 'lightning like flash' - I was imagining here how much the path taken by the Mississippi across the land actually resembles a lightning bolt's flash across the sky to earth. (2) glissando - A musical word meaning a gradual sliding (transition) in tone from one note to the next note on the musical scale.