a four week canoe trip into the lake filled wilderness of Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario.

Twenty-eight days

Bret Hesla, 2009

Twenty-eight days (2x) in a little red canoe
Two old friends (2x) and a 120 of food
From Moose Lake in Minnesota
We hit the border and we paddled through
It was Twenty-eight days (2x) in a little red canoe

1..Smell the pines (2x) tell me that’s not the best
Feel the breeze (2x) easing in from the west
Stroke the wine-dark water. Little funnel drifting back
Then you hit the land (2x) and shoulder up a heavy pack

2..Coffee at dawn (2x) grounds boiled in the pot
Maybe could do (2x) without it, but probably not
That burn moves down your gullet
& it’s better than an overcoat
So take a big swig (2x) and spit the little grounds that float.

3..Three day rain (2x) not the time to make a move
Pass the day (2x) with the banjo and the flute
But the friendship strain would lighten
If the sky would ever turn to blue
So keep a tight lid (2x) on the irritating things you do

4..Two old hands (2x) knowing how to travel hard
Ev’ry night (2x) Jim Beam and a deck of cards.
Played out on a boulder, it’s the same old familiar plot
Deal a hand (2x) and pour me up another shot