I love that place.
The way that the dock can stretch for miles upon miles
Until you reach the white capped river crashing against it.
The steady search for the prettiest sea stone
For which I am the only one who understood its value.
The endless attempts at reaching Far Away Island
But only reaching it in my dreams.
The safety of Blue Dock
Marking off the dark and perilous waters past it.
The monster that comes out under the dock
Who stole little children at night.
The unmarked sounds carried by the water
After the sky explodes into ribbons of color.
I love that place.
My long stretch of riverfront
Home to Big Rock and the Red Sea.
Fearing the gargoyles on Cherry Island.
Cause everybody knows they come alive at night.
The flowing mast of Captain Bill Johnston’s pirate ship
Only appearing in the river once every year.
I loved that place.
As I grow older, the dock withers away
Until only a few short steps separates land and sea.
The piles of stashed away pebbles get lost in the corners of my mind
And are strewn about the waterbed awaiting their next discovery.
Far Away Island becomes closer and closer as each summer passes
Until it is solely, Dingman Shoal.
Blue Dock is slowly swallowed into the hazy water below.
A marking that was once clear now shares the same fate.
The monster disappears from its prior resting place
And now only exists in my memories.
The eerie sounds that once belonged to no one
Is now the calming lullaby of the Loon.
My riverfront, formally home to Big Rock and the Red Sea
Has faded only leaving an unnamed boulder and patches of sea grass.
I often pass by Cherry Island to see the gargoyles
Now understanding that they were nothing more than a warning to wayward ships.
I still see Captain Bill Johnston and his crew.
Only to find he lived not 200 years ago, but two houses down from me.
Although the naive magic has vanished
And the adventures have come to the final chapter.
Nothing will ever change.
I loved that place.
And always will.
by Jennifer Brundage
Jennifer’s poem came to us via Buck Brundage, her father. Jennifer’s Great Grandfather lived in Armonk New York and built one of the first cottages on Dingman Point. Jennifer and her brother Eric are fourth generation "River Rats". Jennifer is a sophomore at Northeastern University in Boston. She wrote this poem as an English project, when she was a junior in High School. Buck wrote: “I thought you and your readers might enjoy it. Like so many, the River is our life and the years are measured by the time we spend there”.
Photographs: Sunset, Cottage View and Brundage Cottage: courtesy of Buck Brundage. Loon: photo by Ian Coristine © www.1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
