Tiny Boat
The world is a very serious place to me now. I know my writing and songwriting reflect this serious perspective, but they didn’t always. And I don’t wanna let the doom and gloom dominate my thoughts. So I figured I’d just start tossing in a bunch of my carefree writing from recent days and yesterdays. I came across a little poem I wrote way back in April of 1974 called “Tiny Boat”, and as I read it, I began to see some of the same word pictures I saw the day I wrote it.
I remembered how one day in the spring of that year I had been lying down on some very soft meadow grass in East central Kansas. A feathery wind had whisked across my face, through my hair, and tickled my ears all afternoon. As fate (the fate I created each time I went out) would have it…I had my trusty 19 cent Bic pen and spiral notebook with me.
For some reason, as I closed my eyes to think, I remembered a Sunday drive with my Grandparents and Uncle and Aunt. I’ve shared a bit of that story on a podcast episode. On that drive we went out into the countryside in rural Oklahoma. We crossed a large steel spanned bridge, and I looked down through the metal beams and could swear I saw a tiny boat with tiny people on it.
Well, my family had quite a laugh out of it, but I knew what I saw. Fast forward about 20 years to 1974, and there I was lying on the grass with a poem forming in my head. It’s not an awesome poem. It’s a simple collection of thoughts from a more carefree time. And I thought I’d share it with you here, today. If you have thoughts from a more carefree time, I invite you to share them with me in the comments section below.
Tiny Boat
I laid in the meadow grass soft as feathers.
I let the wind blow through my hair,
And I didn’t try to get my thoughts together.
I whistled a song called “Tiny Boat”…
A pretty, little melody…
And then I remembered the words to it
And I sang it cheerfully:
“With sails so white…and wood so strong
You let the wind help you along.
Is it my love that makes you float?
If so, I love you Tiny Boat.
Tiny Boat, sailing rivers by the trees.
Pretty, tiny boat…
Take me with you please.”
In Faith, Hope, and Love”