There have been dark clouds overhead for all this time
As you climb aboard your boat for the simple life afloat
You fill your life with gladness and sunshine.
All those jobs and waiting orders left behind you
Where you got up to go to work at half past five…
Someone else can catch that train in the early-morning rain
Cos you are where your heart can come alive!
You see a flash of turquoise blue in the cutting…
If you’re sharp-eyed, you’ll see him hide as you pass by…
See the tiny jenny-wren…here’s the cock, and there’s his hen…
While the sky-lark sings his praises to the sky.
On the banks are buttercups and lots of cowslips
And here’s mother duck with ducklings…add-up: fifteen!
While the cuckoo sings his song you just move slowly along,
The thrill within your soul ne’er seemed so keen!
Though the heavens may open wide with heavy showers
And the thunder rumbles around close overhead…
You just travel on your way with a smile so light and gay…
All worries about work have up and fled!
Evening stills the chilly breeze across the valley
As you moor up to take your ease and eat a meal…
With a glass or two of wine you enjoy a life that’s fine…
Makes the rat-race just seem pointless and surreal!
In the morning you awaken to the bird-song,
Have your breakfast out on deck in the sunshine…
All your tension’s gone away…life is peaceful, life is gay…
The pleasure is so heady…like strong wine!
You partake of God’s bounty on your canal-boat
Because He’s made it possible for you to see
That the simple things in life and the absence of all strife
Are plainly of God’s bounty…and they’re free!
******
My own photographs, illustrating another of my songs,
this one had my own tune instead of a borrowed one.
