SAVANNAH RIVER

I used to run so wild and free
   from Blue Ridge mountains to the sea
   my ebb and flow were governed not
   by any structure man had wrought

Summer time uncovered muds
   deposited by past Spring's floods
   if you dared to build too close
   I'd wash you 'way when waters rose

Current varied, fast or still
   determined mostly by my will
   and ,of course,by the terrain
   or by amount of falling rain

I held 'bout every kind of fish
   that could be served up on a dish
   from trout up near my mountain source
   to flounder at end of my course

Who'd have thought my depth and span
   could be contained by works of man?
   but now by earth and concrete mass
   my final taming's come to pass

Now I only can run wild
   with the leave of Adam's child
   my rapids which once roared like thunder
   now silenced by the lakes they're under

Water calmer than it was before
   and I've miles and miles more shore
   more people come to visit yearly
   an occurance I approve of dearly

And during recent six year drought
   when I'd have been almost dried out
   engineers maintained my flow
   the dams allowed it to be so

Sometimes I miss my wilder life
   filled with uncertainty and strife
   but like an old man now grown fat
   I'm satisfied with where I'm at