We Learned to Love the River, James Sandham

Out on our bikes again –

We rode along the Humber River;

And tracing her gently gliding curves we quickly learned to love her.

There are fishes in the stream again –

Minnows glinting silver –

And here beneath the overpass the cars are just a whisper.

I feel we know each other now –

This river’s like a sister –

And on her banks my brothers sit, skipping stones across her.

The land beneath their resting flanks

Is our great primal mother –

We’ve come to spend some time with her, to say goodbye to summer.

The poplar grove is shedding leaves;

We take the trail back through it.

Our bike chains whir and peddles spin; we spread our love into it.

These idyll days will fade to grey – but what we’ve learned burns through it.