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Friday, August 21, 2015

Breaking Camp – v7

It was about 1:00 in the morning
on that moonlit, starlit night,
in northern Maine,  in the woods
up on the Allagash Wilderness

Silent strangers worked together
to break camp and set out onto the still water;
into the lake, toward the river, running north
heading out into the darkness, heavy night

There were shadows from the full moonlight
the moon dancing on the lake, teasing, urging,
entrancing the band of canoeists,
hushed silence fell through all of us

A pact was written, unspoken but honored
a covenant of peace, stillness, reverence;
knowing somehow each of us
how special these moments were

How treasured they are still,
thirty years later,
as I write these lines
remembering them so well

How the shivers felt that night
when the only sound was the
pearls of water, droplets,
falling from my canoe paddle

The keel of the canoe
pushing through the water
and the sound of my heart,
because we were so quiet
there in the dark

============
edited August 21, 2015
Breaking Camp – v7
(editing version 3)
edited July 18, 2015
Breaking Camp – v6
(editing version 5)
edited April 21, 2015
The Skin of the Lake – v7
(editing original)
edited April 21, 2015
Breaking Camp – v5
(editing original again)
edited April 19, 2015
The Skin of the Lake – v6
(editing original again)
edited April 17, 2015
The Skin of the Lake – v5
(editing version 4)
edited April 16, 2015
Flowing North – v4
(editing version 3)
edited April 16, 2015
the spell of the night – v3
(editing version 2)
edited April 16, 2015
Under the Stars – v3
(editing version 2)
edited April 16, 2015
The Ledges – v5
(editing version 4)
edited April 15, 2015
Breaking Camp – v4
(editing version 3)
Edited May 4, 2013
“The Skin of the Lake – v4
Edited February 23, 2013
“The Skin of the Lake – v3”
Edited February 23, 2013
“The Skin of the Lake – v2”
July 28, 2010
“The Skin of the Lake”
-----
edited April 16, 2015
The Ledges – v5
(editing version 4)
edited May 2, 2013
“the spell of the night – v2”
new poem, February 23, 2013
“the spell of the night”
&
Edited February 23, 2013
“The Skin of the Lake – v3”
Edited February 23, 2013
“The Skin of the Lake – v2”
July 28, 2010
“The Skin of the Lake”
&
Edited May 4, 2013
“Under the Stars – v2”
July 19, 2007 21:28
“Under the Stars”
&
edited April 14, 2014
“Breaking Camp – v3”
(editing original again)
Edited May 4, 2013
“Breaking Camp – v2”
November 23, 2006 18:00
“Breaking Camp”
&
edited December 7, 2014
Free Time – v3
edited May 28, 2014
Free Time – v2
posted May 24, 2004
Free Time
saved March 26, 2004
&
Edited November 2, 2013
“The Ledges – v4”
Edited May 4, 2013
“The Ledges – v3”
Edited September 20, 2012
“The Ledges – v2”
editing the original again
inspired by reading it at Poets’ Corner
monthly poetry reading,
at the Suncook Senior Center
September 10, 2012
 “The Ledges”
Written July 14, 2000.
It is based on a single night in the summer of 1977 when I was part of a group from Claremont's Stevens High School that canoed the Allagash in northern Maine.
Allagash Wilderness Waterway
&
It was the third and final major canoe trip I went on (Saco River in 1975 starting in Fryeburg, ME, Allagash in 1976-July-ish when it was warmer and slower). This trip was earlier, in May, when the water ran faster and the time was spent moving down river with the flow of the river. Nights were a lot cooler and the food was a lot different. Many of us had bad hypothermia the first night because it was a cold rain and none of us had unpacked our bags to pull out the foul weather gear. I remember well having to strip off all of my cold wet clothes and sharing a sleeping bag with another camper. The night written about here started innocently enough. We arrived at this particular campsite on Eagle Lake (or Churchill Lake) earlier than normal, because of the river's current. We all set up each tent and set the dinner fire going. I think it was fried bologna. We all turned in early. We were tired. The moon rose before 11. There were ants and black flies everywhere. One of the campers had to sit by the fire at each campsite to ward off the black flies. Anyway, one by one we all realized we weren't going to sleep any more that night. Before am, we were all pacing around, uneasy. The leaders all agreed to put out for the next camp. We weren't in any rush at am though. This was the way I felt about this night. After we put in mid morning at the next site, I remember the wonderful brook trout we caught and I can still taste it, twenty-three years later. I think these times, when I was moving from Massachusetts to New Hampshire, when I was canoeing the Saco and then the Allagash were some of the happiest of my high school days. On the 1976 trip, from Massachusetts, I found the canoe paddle I wrote about in the poem "Wind" I always talked about going back to the Allagash; but I have never gone back. It wasn't until 22 years later that I finally got my canoe again.

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 38,980+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

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