kara barnard

 

Jon Boat
(from the CD Flying Down King Street)

I sat on the dock where the dark waters churned
Patiently waiting for you to return
The sound of your voice around the lake's bend
I'd give my last breath to hear once again

If I was your jon boat I'd make my way home
To the old boat dock from where you have roamed
The strippers dark waters behind me would weigh
While you and your daughters pulled fish from the lake

A tall white pine leans over the lake
Roots firmly growing deep into the bank
Thirsty brown needles fall from its hands
And float on the water below where they land

If I was a little needle of pine
I'd ride with the current back into time
And I'd find my father, the big pine tree
There on the bank he'd be waiting for me

I've filled many pages with you when you left
The words strained to soothe me befallen, bereft
Over and over and over I pen
And nothing I write brings you back again

If I was a poem pretty and soft
I'd rhyme all my words with the people I've lost
I'd warm them in lyrics and hold them so close
A sweet happy ending would be all we know

©2007 by Kara Barnard
All rights reserved, lyrics reprinted by permission.

click here to return to the lyrics index.