HALLOWEEN STORM 2017

DAWN affords clear

visibility beyond glass doors.

Darkness offered driving rain,

wild, whipping wind – howling, flexing,

rattling vinyl siding, walls and windows.

Ancient tall trees suddenly fell in

thunderous foundation-shaking thuds.

Thick branches cracked, split,

moaned in protest, earthy roots exposed.

Acorns popped against windows

like corn popping. Shredded chips

of summer leaves plastered sideways

against all glass surfaces, tick-tick-tick.

Covering the ground, a Matrix

of “spider web” branches

filled with leaves still green,

acorn “victims” pooled beneath.

Cavernous holes in the earth

where trees once grew, now

peeled back, earth-scabs

revealing matted shallow roots

grown over granite slabs just under

the surface of the earth throughout Maine.

Generators hummed throughout

the night. Sounds of rebuilding,

re-ordering the neighborhood.

Weeks fill with the sound of many

Buzzing chainsaws ripping mighty

trees into piles of wood chips.

Stillness descends,

turbulence at last quieted,

Mother Nature mourns

for the loss of precious trees,

stately children of her forest

on the Kennebec.

Curious homeowners scour

a once-thick forest, tripping over

downed branches or dangling roots

ripped from the storm-ravaged earth.

Deer, moose, small animals

sniff the wind, newly alert,

searching for new, secure homes.

Hunter orange soon mingles

with thick layers of yellow,

orange, red and chocolate brown

fall leaves whose tethers ripped

from strong tree branches

in micro-bursts whipping

through one town across the

Kennebec River to the next.

The Journey Begins

SWAN ISLAND in the KENNEBEC,

BOOK ONE of the trilogy: ISBN: 978-1-59713-198-8

CINNAMON’S SWAN ISLAND ADVENTURES,

ISBN: 979-8-218-03910-3 (ages 2-10)

~ SWAN ISLAND PRESS ~

A children’s adventure book illustrated by the author from childhood memories.

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT:

GULF OF MAINE BOOKS

SHERMAN’S BOOKSTORES of MAINE

AMAZON.COM

BARNESANDNOBLE.COM

ISLAND PHOTOS

email T. Blen Parker: swangomaine@gmail.com

Also, see short stories and poems published from 2012-2018 in GOOSE RIVER ANTHOLOGIES

FOR A DOCUMENTARY: SWAN ISLAND, ISLAND OF EAGLES

MAINE PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION, link below:

FIRST PLACE ACM-NE WINNER in
NEW ENGLAND & NEW YORK in 2020

AIRE TIMES WERE: NOVEMBER 19, 2020 AT 9 P.M. and again on NOVEMBER 21, 2020 AT 2 P.M……BUT IF YOU MISSED THESE OPPORTUNITIES, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

https://www.mainepublic.org/post/island-eagles-swan-island-story

Filmed by Patrick Bonsant, Director, Saco Valley Public Television

PHOTOS FROM 2016 & SEPTEMBER 2018:

IMG-0853
AERIAL VIEW OF THE PICNIC TABLE SHELTER ~ HISTORIC DUMARESQUE HOUSE ON THE RIGHT … the house Sylvester Gardiner built for his daughter as a wedding gift … and where Dr. Hebbard had the SWANGO HEALTH RESORT