There's no doubt about it
you just know that you're one
You're just a river rat
living life and having fun

Riverside Drive is falling down
Most stores are vacant, boarded up now
John the barber, his candy stick's cracked
The railroad’s gone and it’ll never come back

No street bustle like years of old
Now crumbling docks covered in mold
Weathered beaten buildings with broken window panes
lay dormant across this bleak terrain

Pot holed pavement divides the decay
of this once thriving town back in it’s heyday
Back in the days of my youth where we were taught to tell the truth
Where we all lost that very first tooth

In the streets of summer you'd dance on the block
Slide out on the grease pole hanging over the dock
Spent the days on the river or just sat on the dock
Hear the geese and look for the flock

A winter wonderland in the ice and snow
Horse races and flying saucers with all those fish below
There wasn't anyone that you didn't know
but that was a long time ago

Now stray dogs hide in the shadows
Scavengers of the street
Search for their sanctuaries
and crumbs beneath their feet

Winter hides the destruction
It's masked in shades of white on white
It's like the stillness of a graveyard
under a full moons silver light

The permanent stain of what was
nature’s thaw will never cleanse
A voice in the wind carried the cry
It's shame you had to die

From that cry there came a time when eyes became wide open
All those rats came together and fixed what had been broken
They worked together as all river rats do
It's still the same but it's all brand new

Now the streets are bustling day and night
Once again the streets shine bright
The four seasons share their treasures that brings the town alive
Proving once again that all river rats survive

They tore down old buildings but saved the best
They built some new and they're built to last
There's pride buried in the roots of this river rat town
You don't have to dig deep, it's so easily found

02/03/2018

Author's Note: poetic license

Posted on 02/03/2018
Copyright © 2024 Thomas K. Hunt