Poetry delivers visual imagery better than any other nonvisual art form. This poem is a textured, visual journey to a place you might never have been (and might never get the chance to go!). Ray Sharp lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He works in public health and he writes poetry and competes in triathlons for fun. You can read more of his work at raysharp.wordpress.com. But for now, come along with me, reader, someplace we've never been.

Sternwheeler
By Ray Sharp

So you mostly walk the deck
and watch the shoreline slip away,
Indiana on the left, Kentucky on the right,
your world shrinking down
to the girl, the boat, and the enveloping dark.
You hang out over the stern railing
above the paddlewheel that mows
muddy green meadows of river
and churns out frothy haystacks,
dark hills of just lived moments
receding one by one into night.
You hold hands like there's no letting go,
like you won't slip into the churning.