Every Easter, for a few years, my kayak friends and I would go out for what we called “The Heathen Paddle”. For us , this marked the first paddle of Spring, in which we could see the first buds of rebirth and renewal. We would leave from Yonkers, NY, head down the Hudson River to Spuyten Dyvil, down the Harlem River to the Bronx Kill which would shoot us out to the East River. We’d get out at Little Brother Island, across from Rikers Island. From there, we would head up the Bronx River and get out at Hunts Point, where we had cars waiting for us. While this was ostensibly to view nature, mostly we came across trash. This increased every year. After our last paddle, I wrote this song, “Twenty Centuries”. I hope it speaks to you.
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