Songs, Merry and Sad

Sunburnt Boys

     Down on the Lumbee river
      Where the eddies ripple cool
     Your boat, I know, glides stealthily
      About some shady pool.
     The summer's heats have lulled asleep
      The fish-hawk's chattering noise,
     And all the swamp lies hushed about
      You sunburnt boys.

     You see the minnow's waves that rock
      The cradled lily leaves.
     From a far field some farmer's song,
      Singing among his sheaves,
     Comes mellow to you where you sit,
      Each man with boatman's poise,
     There, in the shimmering water lights,
      You sunburnt boys.

     I know your haunts:  each gnarly bole
      That guards the waterside,
     Each tuft of flags and rushes where
      The river reptiles hide,
     Each dimpling nook wherein the bass
      His eager life employs
     Until he dies—the captive of
      You sunburnt boys.

     You will not—will you?—soon forget
      When I was one of you,
     Nor love me less that time has borne
      My craft to currents new;
     Nor shall I ever cease to share
      Your hardships and your joys,
     Robust, rough-spoken, gentle-hearted
      Sunburnt boys!