Running the Payette
on an afternoon in June.
Confined within our raft,
helmets and vests secure.
Water foaming white
above the shoals.
Working together
and sometimes not!
We struggle through the rapids
and glide along the pools.
A guide to help us steer
between the breaks.
Always on the lookout
for the strainers and the rocks.
We paddle hard
to maintain our course.
We hardly notice
the shores on either side.
Or the beauty all around us!
Moving much too fast,
trading risks for thrills.
For it is not the destination
that counts.
We all get there
by and by:
To the flatwater!
It is the ride we make,
the obstacles we avoid,
The danger we dared,
and the teamwork.
The shared sense
of experience,
And the relief when
it is all over.
Life is like running the Payette
on an afternoon in June.