The River of Wolves

“The sun sets Sunday [July 6, 2025] over the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas.” Copyright © Brandon Bell/Getty Images.

There is a stream that flows through the hills of Texas called the River of Wolves.

Derrick G. Jeter

A Note to Readers: This week and next are dedicated to the tragic flooding that took place in the Texas Hill Country on July 4, 2025. Next week I hope to offer words of encouragement for the suffering. This week, though I make no claims to being a poet, I offer a lament—an elegy for the Hill Country.

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There is a stream that flows
through the hills of Texas
called the River of Wolves.

Death lurks neath its billows.
Its swollen teeth to bare,
grinding rock, man, and willows.

Along its banks of woe,
caught in its undertow,
bodies sleep on stone pillows.

So weep and wail for those
who search the banks with care
for those who lost their souls,

Along the stream that flows
through the hills of Texas
called the River of Wolves.

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Y’allogy is an 1836 percent purebred, open-range guide to the people, places, and past of the great Lone Star. We speak Texan here. Y’alloy is created by a living, breathing Texan—for Texans and lovers of Texas—and is free of charge. I’d be grateful, however, if you’d consider riding for the brand as a paid subscriber and/or purchasing my novel.

Be brave, live free, y’all.