The Morning Reading: "No one could make us come down."

The Summer We Didn't Die
by William Stafford

That year, that summer, that vacation
we played out there in the cottonwood—
we were young; we had to be brave.
Far out on those limbs above air,

We played out there in the cottonwood
Above grown-ups who shouted, "Come down!"
Far out on those limbs above air
We were brave in that summer that year.
No one could make us come down.

"You’ll be killed!" We were scared, but we held on.
That year, that summer, that vacation,
no one could make us come down.
We were young. We had to be brave.

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