The winter freeze began to thaw,so the gear was gathered and stowed
The paddles clenched with tentative hands were still anxious to row
We were as embarrassed as we were happy as we were scared
Of how the river would ride and how the weather fared
Everything was so new and everything so unprepared
My compass was broken and my map soiled and tattered
The canoe had been down this river before
But I could still feel your nervous heart pound as the rapids ripped the shore
So you can veer to steady ground, but don't be surprised
If there's no safe out at all and you're left stranded riverside
Every now and then we'd find ourselves paddling upstream
Caught by and eddy that wouldn't let us leave
If the rapids deem to rip it up then torn it shall be
And on one side of the river you'll stand and on the other will be me
And all the while the river cut its own path as does the heart its own
It can be dammed and routed but you cannot stop its flow
So you can veer to steady ground, but don't be surprised
When there's no safe out at all and you're left stranded riverside