We see so much rapid change in our lives everyday, from technology to fashion trends. But even as things are constantly changing some things never do.

It is always such a delight to receive stories and poetry inspired by our guests’ experiences on the river with us. Here we’d like to share a beautiful poem written by Joy Sprague who had a river trip with Hatch in May of 2024.
Split like a canyon down the middle
River Poetry by Joy Sprague. Photo: Joy Sprague
River runs through me like a longing
Cutting me into halves and quarters
Water and silt splinter my fingers
Dissecting my being into what was, what is,
what longs to be again
Sadness from voices no longer heard
Shadows my days and awakens my nights
Rustling of the boatmen along the shore
Brewing my morning coffee, scrambling my eggs
While frying my hash browns and bacon
I lay on my cot listening to my fellow travelers
Their breath eases in and out like the flow of a distant tide
Brilliant star shows no longer illuminate
The cerulean clear sky lighting my zippers edge
Impossibly felt until so deep in the walls
Photo: Joy Sprague
Slot canyons carved me up and spit me out
Whitewater shot me down the river
Faster than my perception could understand
I stand, stand on the shores of solid ground
And yet…I am not there but oh so much of me is,
Is not here, is somewhere in between
Longing to be in two places at one time
Desire to listen silently to others journeys
To whiff the boatman’s cigarettes
And feel the embrace of others arms
I never knew before being there
The loss is deep in the chasms of my core
Almost like the mossy green of elves chasm
It lives in me and outside me at the same time
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