Oregon

Oregon of greens and golds
Of summer rains and unfurled folds
Of crested peaks and heavy snows
Of biting winds and sand that blows

Of desert lands with crumbled rock
To the blue mountains and hardy stock
Of foggy shores with velvet fern
To Astoria with bow and stern

And in those days a driving through
As trees a blur and worries few
Along the road a traveled on
Past endless forests gazed upon

Past rivers' wide unending view
With gentle banks and crossings few
Waters here hold center stage
Their words spelled out across the page

Past Shasta's mount and wonderland
Into the meadows from God's hand
By Klamath Lake we roll along
To glory in the Bend of song

One sister lost, two sisters found
Three Sisters rise above the ground
And on to dams and bridges built
Where waters swirl and worlds tilt

We make past Dayton's quilted hills
As afternoon sunlight spills
To Potlatch barns and Coeur D'alene
Pastoral scenes that still remain

Past the lands of Nez Perce
Through Lookout Pass Montana way
To Helena's blankets of snow
Where night's as soft as candle glow

Back to Sandpoint's frozen sky
Through ghosted trees we float on by
Where whitetails bounce by Curlew Lake
We gather together for goodness sake

To the west and Puget Sound
Along the coast and back on down
And back and forth and round and round
Where rainforest springs and falls abound

Up to Eugene town we go again
For time with traveled friends we spend
To center square wares bought and sold
And rustic comfort in houses old

So many mountains and so much green
So many memories and so much seen
Thank God my paths of days so long
Took me on the trails of Oregon