This Vacation Day, by Ipswich Bluff, Plum Island

 A train is rumbling with reminders that
 this wilderness of Parker River, blue
 expanses trimmed with golden grasses, works
 its fortunes while some folk without a clue
 commute to work. They think the power fueled
 by locomotive engines rivals this,
 a silence broken now and then by cries
 of seagulls, calls of waterfowl, and bliss,
 that transcendental whistle. And I've seen
 the ocean on the other side complete
 with infinite horizons crossed by waves
 more powerful than nuclear-fed heat
 that overwhelms this, but not quite.
 This peacefulness is God in all its might.



copyright 2000 Gregory Perry