In the Shadows of the Siskiyous

The whispering hush
Of the breeze through the rushes
On the shores of Emmigrant Lake.

A hot summer day
With our feet in red clay
Molding patties on the rocks there to bake.

A more innocent time
And the world was more kind
To a kid growing up, singing, and laughing,
And running through the shadows of the Siskiyous.

But now in my life I'm another world away
From the times and places where I used to run and play.
And I wonder what I've gained from all the pleasure and the pain
As my mind takes me back to the world from which I came,
Running through the shadows of the Siskiyous.

The continuous whine
Of the wind in the pines
On the foothills of Sterling Creek.

Pushing boulders off the ledge,
Our friendship's only pledge
Was to meet up again next week.

Each experience was new
And the conclusion that I drew
Was that life would only get better, and fuller,
Running through the shadows of the Siskiyous.

But now I'm forty years further down that road
And I find that I carry an unexpected load
Of responsibility and concern that I previously didn't know.
Should I continue and persist, or shall I simply turn and go
To my self-imagined home,
Running in the shadows of the Siskiyous?

The drone of my alarm
The numbness of my left arm
As I awake, I am thinking of work.

Each morning, things to do
For my family, I must be the glue
And my charge from God, I shall not shirk.

I am an adult now, for I have grown up
The things that I have started, I simply cannot stop
The momentum under way, but I will see it through,
Living in the shadows of the Siskiyous.

And when I think that I must somehow go home
To a time or a place that I can simply run and play,
I remind myself that it wasn't I alone
Who has set these varied motions under way,
But God, Himself, has been with me every day.

Then my burden is reduced, and I must only persevere.
For though I've charted my own course, it is God who put me here,
And His good plan for me is not so hard as I might think,
For they are only my own worries that would lead me to the brink.

So I can sing, and I can laugh, and I can go on
Living in the shadows of the Siskiyous.