Goodbye sweet Wappingers Creek
where you meet the Hudson
the deer curled up beside you
with twin fawns
The river winds its way through
just as we did
We harvested wineberries and made scones from them
Justin chopped wood and structured elegant woodpiles
We listened to ancient stories from ancient river people
and we did not have to lock our door, in fact
our house did not have a lock when we arrived...
We are going to listen to the water
when it sends us to the edge of the land
where the sky meets the sea
Wappani to Wampanoag
charting, swimming, drifting
traveling by sloop
by sail
by instinct
We might
wait for that canoe to take us over
across the great water