The culvert

We followed a stream

through a wooded ravine

that ended at the mouth

of a large culvert in a hill

Inside, we walked

ankle deep in water and

stopped stooped over in half light

staring into a deep pool

You picked up a stone

threw it in and

waited to hear it hit bottom;

our whispers were all we heard

Years later, I returned from college

followed the stream between

close crowded houses to the mouth

of the culvert in the hill

I shined my flash light on stones

strewn along the bottom of a dry hole

and tried to remember

which one was yours

3-29-22