An Eagle on My Back

I remember a hot summer a few years ago,

When we shouted and swam in a pool.

Scouts swarmed ‘round to pull me right down

While I splashed and I whooped like a fool.

Though I fended them off with grace and with ease.

There came a great weight like a pack.

I twisted to see what had happened to me,

And found there was an Eagle on my back!

He was soaking wet, with hair in his eyes,

And he was really just a little to thin.

He showed no sign of what he’d become

No, there was no bold Eagle back then.

But on the camp outs that followed that first one,

He braved all the snow, the rain and the mud.

He cooked on camp stoves, cut with sharp knives

And practiced First Aid on blisters and blood.

But, he climbed the high trails there at Philmont

And was elected to the Order of the Arrow.

Though all these trails were steep and winding,

Seldom did he stray from the straight and narrow.

But the years went by, as they always will do,

And we’re proud to say, "I knew him when."

‘Cause he's worked his way to this lofty aerie;

To a prize that we all knew he would win.

So here stands this Eagle so tall and so proud,

For he never lost sight of his track.

But I remember that day once long, long ago,

When I found there was an Eagle on my back.

Composed for

Michael Alex Morris’

Eagle Ceremony

October 26, 1998

by

Michael D. David

Assistant Scout Master

Troop 750