Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                           I want to hold you
                    I want to love you forever
          Walk the trail in the prairie and woods
                            With you again
Lay out on that beach, enjoy the sunset together
               You make everything so happy
       Your sweet smile makes life worth living.

Poetry from the book {The lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                               It's all about
                                 The cash
                                 The flash
                            Nothings solid
                             Nothings real.

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas 

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

       I leave Columbus, Kentucky and later came to camp on Island No. 8. I'm on a sand field 800 meters in. A hard walk in but well worth it if the river level rises. And my god this place is beautiful. I am camped out on an island of sand, a desert surrounded by water. A deer drinks water from the river at sunset. So quiet and peaceful.
    Cloudy skies, there has been a lot of rain here.

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

        I was getting afraid there wasn't much to this town but on up the road there was something. The pay phone was stripped, and I went to an old man sitting on a bench, to ask him if there was another pay phone in town. His Kentucky accent was so thick I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
       I went to a mini mart called home and had a burger and fries. The girl that worked there let me fill up on water.
       She told me that two guys from Michigan had swamped there canoe yesterday and had walked in to call home and call it quits. She seemed a little to happy to tell me there plight.
        When I left the town the old man that I had tried to converse with was now surrounded by five elderly gentlemen.
        The area was beautiful, the trees and vegetation were so vibrant and profuse.

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

        Saturday July 15    I leave the firecracker smell around Wickliffe. The river is even more ominous now. I make a short drive for Columbus, Kentucky. I take some big wakes on my way to Columbus. Not really knowing if there is anything in Columbus or a town at all. I find the daymark position and pull off on a rocky shore. The rocks on shore look like a cemented rusted ore. A state park stands in front of me (Belmont State Park). Children peek off the earth bluff.
        Starting from a marine service for barges I head up this road, hopefully to a town.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

     Both Democrats and Republicans prove that
           Government doesn't work for you
                         It works for them.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

  No matter who gets elected, we all get screwed.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                   We venerate what we destroy
                  The American Indian, Buffalo,
    The tall grass prairie, Rivers, wetlands, forests
    Grizzly, Mountain lions, Wolves, Wolverines
     And other wildlife that we don't mind putting
                     A bullet in their heads.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by artist Troy Richard Thomas

                    We are all pieces of God.

Poetry from the book { Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                             Artista Declaracion
                       The destruction of society
            Art without rules, Art without school
      The reconstruction and conservation of nature
            Whole God concepts, Nature as God
                    The obliteration of elitism,
                The destruction of the system
        The annihilation of players, controllers,
             Brown nosers, and sychophants.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

               For anything in life that you get

     The Devil always wants to make you dance.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

     Honestly I can't think of anything better than
                      Rolling down a river
    Feeling the water soothe your body and spirit
      The only thing that rivals the paddle trip
Into the solitude and peace of nature is a woman
                    Rivers speak silently
                 Women are never silent.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas    

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

    To God we are the momentary ants in his life

He may not know that he steps on us periodically.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                       It's a cruel world out there
                It's just waiting to beat you down
       Waiting to stomp on you and humiliate you
                It's a world of gods and queens
                     And losers by the dozen
                   It's a cruel world out there
           I hope you never see it, but you will.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas 

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

              The name of the game is "Money"
              The cold cruel game of humanity
           The rotten apple core of our existence.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry to the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

       Friday July 14  44 miles paddled    Around Cairo Illinois I kayak through 40 foot sheer mud bank walls. I meet the Ohio around 6:30 pm, and I'm on a new map. The Ohio River is enormous, it dwarfs the Mississippi it flows into. The muddy Mississippi meets the steel grey waters of the Ohio. I missed a flood that flushed down the Ohio to New Orleans by a week. The banks of the Mississippi are ringed by the receding water line.
       I had, had a great day and it was time to search for a campsite. The sand shores were so wet that they had turned into quicksand. One step out of the boat and I was up to my knee cap. The wing dams are under water and running with a hard current. Five barges go by with the engines running with full screw, to make it up the river. These barges gave off enormous 14 foot wakes that I had to roller coaster ride to get to the other side. The kayaks bow would slice through a wall of water and then come slamming down into the trough, and then I would ride back up again.
       I stop at a boat ramp that seems implausible to use. The boat ramp is steep, and 150 meters long. I would not want to back a car and boat down this high slide to water.
       I camp in a gravel parking area near a 12 foot cross that looms over the Mississippi River.

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

                   The meadow that was eaten
             The raging flower child that I loved
The horse that stood in a field of queen annes lace
                  A fools play, drama, skit
              A musical with dancing arms
      The shimmer of that last golden thread
    She lay helpless in it's arms as I shall too
    In a bowl we stand, a man is always armed
   Fire shall always destroy the giver of pain.

Poetry from the book {Bunny Hop} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

       Thursday July 13  52 miles paddled   I've gone past Grand Tower, Thebes, and Cape Gerardeau. The Cape is close to the river and accessible. It looked like a fairly good town to enter. Just after the pipeline extension bridge Grand Tower has a nice beach and camping area. Another big quarry just before Thebes. Trail of Tears State Park had the best boat ramp I've seen downward. They created a protected harbor with boulders set in a box formation.
       Just before the Cape a sand bar almost closed off the river. A line up of barges were waiting there turn to squeeze through a very tight passage. The river levels are very low, everything is on the dry side.
       Not much animal life has been sighted but the beaches tell of many footprints.
        The Ohio River is coming up.

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

       Wednesday July 12     At around eleven o'clock I met a rock quarry, it was a large operation. Industry seems to dot the river in seemingly remote locations.
       At certain points after wing dams I am receiving heavy whirlpool and eddie action. The islands are diked and on the dry side. I am camping on an island tonight. The Mississippi River below St Louis is beautiful and lonely.

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

My parents made the mistake of taking us to a fancy restaurant

We ran around the dining room hiding under the tables slapping ladies on their legs and looking up their dresses

At the restaurant I happen to notice a piece of greenery laying next to my food

What the hell is this thing????

It's the sign of a fine restaurant garnish

The next day for supper my Mother served us hamburgers

I said," where's my greenery woman"

My Mom walks outside, comes back and lifts up the hamburger bun and throws a pile of grass on top of the burger

She says," eat up you little shit"

I say," well I'll be taking my business elsewhere with this kind of service."

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

         Tuesday July 11   41miles     I start from the archway next to the Mc Donalds fake steamboat. The river has turned a milky soiled tan upon the entrance of the Missouri River. Ripples, eddies, boils, whirlpools, and strong current, since the river has been freed from the Lock and Dam system. The river freed will kindle speed in my boat. With the dams you get a one or two mile push at the out flow. Leaving the arch I go through a 10 mile alley way of industry and parked barges. There is little siding for me to get out of the way of working tugs, I cut through pretty fast.
           The river is far below flood stage. Vast fields of sand bars that stretch for miles. Some places in the states are in drought. The Missouri probably kicked in very little water. The wing dams are standing high and dry. They consist of lines of stacked rocks that back up water into the main channel.
         The river is freed and I like it that way. Almost solitude to be had. Not very many marinas will be encountered this long stretch downward. Most towns are far off the river.
         I had a great time in St Louis. The clouds helped me today.
         
Diary entry from the book {Prometheus Lives} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas