Another Night On The Mississippi Poem by Ben Partenay

The night’s a teacher and a song
A note held soft but not for long
That taught me quietly to lie
When night is humming lullabyes

When night is asking, have you seen
A nickel colored ocean dream
Within the night then have you stood
Within a cloud, within a wood

Then did you climb with silence down
To walk upon the melting ground
Then climbing deeper tried to find
The hole that is inside your mind

There is a riverboat tonight
Beneath this sky and lemon light
That does not come from anywhere
But travels on a breath air

There is a way, the captain spoke,
To see and sift but not to look
There are some nights, he quiet said,
The Mississippi runs ahead

To where, I needn’t ever know
Past New Orleans and all it’s glow
To where a nickel colored dream
Is everything that I have seen