QUEEN KENNEBECCA

PRINCESS KENNEBECCA – lived on Sowangen, at the riverside of Queen Kennebecca

Visitors once stood in awe

on her mossy banks

where the wild rice grows.

Viking explorers and Merchant Adventurers

seeking improved trade routes,

sailed next to prisoners eager to

renew lives in a wild country, beside

slaves traveling the underground railroad,

each riding quietly upriver

via Queen Kennebecca,

en route to Canada.

Queen Kennebecca, a lifetime supporter

of worldwide trade between Abenaki Chiefs

adorned in beads and feathers,

during fiery sunrises or sunsets

along her riverbanks in Maine,

or merchants arriving from a continent away.

Toasting with cocktails brimming with

ice-cubes gleaned from Queen Kennebecca’s

pristine waters, European ladies

fondled iridescent beads fashioned

from shells by Abenaki maidens

across the ocean in New England.

Ladies on Swan Island in Maine, residing

along Queen Kennebecca’s shores

drank French wine

from Italian crystal goblets

at tables set with Irish linen,

dined from English silverware,

enjoying exotic spice dishes from India

served on Chinese porcelain,

by young maidservants

from Chad or Bermuda.

Mesmerizing scores, the ageless Queen

spans hundreds of years

across thousands of piers.

Her commanding presence continues

to flow smoothly linking people,

cities, merchants, and products

emerging from the deepest forests

of Maine, touching continents

across the sea and back.

King Pines marked with a broad arrow,

harvested from the Queen’s shores,

sold downriver as sturdy masts

on great sailing ships, or destined for

building mills, churches, and new homes.

Native baskets of sassafras,

hops, herbs, and wild berries

overflowing, shipped on to London.

Cod and sturgeon salted,

drying on flakes in the sun,

wheat milled, game hunted,

mink and beaver trapped,

traded in ports across the sea.

Queen Kennebecca offers abundance,

uniting people, continents, countries,

her compassion as fathomless as

the depth of a mother’s love.