The Current - The Rivers School

I remember when you took me to the ocean
On my fifteenth birthday
The sun so bright overhead.
You said
Tom Rehnert // Crow // 2nd Place
13
Summers Ford // The PLains // 3rd PLace
Look around you, son
This is our home
See the yellow grass
Shaking off the midnight frost
Feel the hot wind dancing around you
See the eagle soaring with the wind
No
Climb up on this hill, my son.
Do you see the yellow ocean now
See how it rolls with the breeze
Can you smell the sweet sunshine
No
You got down on your hands and knees then
Pressed your face into the dust
For a moment you were lost
Behind the tall grass
But then you called out to me and told me
To do the same
So I hid behind the grass with you
You said
Shhh Shh, my son
Be still my son
Wait...
So we waited, I don’t remember for how long
And you asked me
Do you feel it my son
I didn’t
But then
Crouched behind the tall billowing grass
The earth began to thunder
I felt it in my bones
In my heart
In my blood
You rose onto the balls of your feet
Still crouching
And I did the same
Peeking out through the grass I saw
The cloud of black smoke and the metal engine
I saw the cruel mechanical beast
But I didn’t understand
I looked to you for some explanation
But your eyes were so sad
So sad
I remember then you asked
Do you know why we came here son
No
We must remember, my son
We must remember the pounding
Of a thousand hooves
The snorting of a thousand beasts
And the thunder of a stampede
We must remember
For if we forget that this is where we come from
We lose who we are
I still didn’t understand
I remember on the drive home I stared out my
window
Watching the yellow ocean roll by
It looked so empty and desolate
Papa, I understand now
We went today and scattered your ashes in the
yellow ocean
The sun shone golden overhead
And the eagle soared with the hot wind
And as I sprinkled your ashes I felt it
The pounding of a thousand hooves
The snorting of a thousand beasts
And the thunder of a lost stampede
Papa, I understand now