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I Sat By the Riverbank

I sat by the riverbank today and wondered
How long it takes the water to get to the Gulf
Considered things my inquisitive mind ponders
Like what is so enjoyable about playing golf?

Save for an afternoon stroll, I see few merits
Especially since my back has developed kinks
My bag of clubs, the works, my son will inherit
While I spend afternoons catching forty winks.

I sat by the riverbank today and wondered
If those barges ever break loose in rebellion,
[Since their burden is a product plundered],
And run amok like some undisciplined hellion.

I suspect I should beware of my mind adrift
For, at my age, questioning can embarrass,
Although the soothing water gives me a lift
A day like this spent idling is simply fabulous.

BRONZE MEDAL WINNER
Written April 12, 2022
"Anything Goes" Poetry Contest
All Poetry
April 19, 2022

Copyright © L Milton Hankins | Year Posted 2022

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Mike Gentile Date: 4/14/2022 10:22:00 AM To sit and think by the river sounds marvelous Milt! I like your words and your thoughts! Happy Thursday !! Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 4/14/2022 11:23:00 AM Aw, thanks so much, Mike. I just got home from the hospital. Was in overnight. Had chest pain, etc. Had a heart cath. They found two blockages in stents they could not repair, so they put me on some more medicine. Gotta keep those pharma guys in business! Ha! Mike, I hope you're having a fine week.

Sara Kendrick Date: 4/13/2022 11:05:00 AM It is nice to have a day to be able to ponder a few things sort of turn them over in our minds or maybe they get trapped down in a deep rut of the brain then what. Enjoyed reading your work. Sara Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 4/14/2022 11:30:00 AM Thank you so much, Sara, for your thoughtful comment on my poem.

Gershon Wolf Date: 4/13/2022 10:53:00 AM Mind 'adrift?' - 'Soothing water gives it a lift!' Wonderful! No better place to go than to H2O! ~ A believer Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 4/14/2022 11:31:00 AM Thanks, gw. I do love to sit by the river and watch the water and the boats go by. Reminds me of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Marco Chies Date: 4/12/2022 6:24:00 PM A pleasant poem, uncompromising, light and at the same time full of incredible images. Thank you Milton. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 4/12/2022 7:23:00 PM Thank you so much, Marco. It was a relaxing write, I must say. I appreciate your read and your thoughts.

Caren Krutsinger Date: 4/12/2022 1:08:00 PM I am glad that you are having such a marvelous day my friend! Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 4/12/2022 1:51:00 PM I am having a wonderful day, Caren, but this poem is total fiction. Although, I have sat by the riverbank and had these very thoughts. I'm still wondering if a physicist could calculate how long it takes the water (the same water) to travel from Ashland to New Orleans. I'm intrigued by this.