I take off my shoes and barefoot stand
On ground once hallowed by my youth
Where summers passed so lazily
In the timelessness of childhood
Wide fields of dry summer grass
The smell of pine trees all around
And dusty roads in morning light
A child’s day adventure bound
A little creek where once I played
And dreamed of places far away
The pebbles by the stream transformed
To gemstones- rubies, gold, and jade
The swimming holes where all of us
Spent days of glory in the sun
Riding bucking broncos made of logs
In a water rodeo of fun
I see a child of today
Now walking, running ‘cross this land
And pray he too will take to heart
Warmth of the earth and grass and sand
God bless this land where I now stand
And let it always sacred be
Something of me still lives in it
Something of it lives on in me