Most weekends we packed our red canoe
with a tent, sleeping bags, books, a cooler,
and enough food and wine for the weekend,
then paddled out to a sand bar in the middle
of the river. For two days we swam and read
and drank and fucked, stretching out in the sun,
lean and dark. Later we learned that some nights
engineers release waters from the dam upstream
to control the floodplain. Experienced boaters
knew to check the schedule. What did we know?
Nothing about harnessing nature, everything
about being swept away.
