As long as the country

as wide as a mile

it flows downhill

from a spring in Minnesota

all the way to New Orleans

our road of commerce

full of freight and

busy with ships and barges

bumping into each other

with craft of all kinds

carrying cargo and passengers

up and down the length of America

all in love with steamboat memories

 

dams and locks and

dikes and levees try to contain it

but when the rain comes

when the ice melts

it will have its way

and go where it wants to

flooding fields and towns and roads

in a path of destruction

leaving people on rooftops

gators in trees

 

it is a sneaky river

its current ever changing

placid at times

as smooth as a flat rock

but when it gets mad

it rages with a fury

kicks off its shackles

and pours over its banks

in a fit of anger

a wake of misery

 

the Mississippi River

is America's river

America's road

forever in our history

and in our destiny

a symbol of America's industriousness

without it we would be

a smaller country

a lesser people

and never the Twain shall we meet.