Sunburnt Boys

        Down on the Lumbee river
            Where the eddies ripple cool
        Your boat, I know, glides stealthily
            About some shady pool.
        The summer's heats have lulled asleep
            The fish-hawk's chattering noise,
        And all the swamp lies hushed about
            You sunburnt boys.

        You see the minnow's waves that rock
            The cradled lily leaves.
        From a far field some farmer's song,
            Singing among his sheaves,
        Comes mellow to you where you sit,
            Each man with boatman's poise,
        There, in the shimmering water lights,
            You sunburnt boys.

        I know your haunts:    each gnarly bole
            That guards the waterside,
        Each tuft of flags and rushes where
            The river reptiles hide,
        Each dimpling nook wherein the bass
            His eager life employs
        Until he dies--the captive of
            You sunburnt boys.

        You will not--will you?--soon forget
            When I was one of you,
        Nor love me less that time has borne
            My craft to currents new;
        Nor shall I ever cease to share
            Your hardships and your joys,
        Robust, rough-spoken, gentle-hearted
            Sunburnt boys!