BIG MUDDY (12 lines)

...life there is LIFE, there!

every boy, of a certain age,
has dreamed of freedom from his cage
of sailing away, beyond the sea
to unknown lands, that may not be

passing a riverboat, or mighty steamer
his homemade raft--the river of dreamers
day follows night as night follows day
each boy, seeking a place he may stay

whether ocean or river or mountain or plain,
his dream of freedom remains, always, the same
the Mississippi delta, once his home,
left far behind, his end place, his own.

(12 lines)