Northeast Adventure's Bits and Pieces Part 3A

Travel is an avenue I've chosen. it shakes me loose of routines. cleanses my mind of assumptions. makes room for child-like awe of a world bursting with treasures. 

Travel is an avenue I've chosen. illuminated by poets, painters, and the printing press.

the human story of foreign geography. unveiled like the sun after mid-afternoon thunderstorms.

Amazing artists, journalists, and poets brought depth to my understanding of Maine's geography and people. One poem I fell in love with is featured below.

Inland

written by Edna Vincent Millay

born in Rockland, Maine (1892 -1950)

People that build their houses inland,

   People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
   Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
   Tons of water striking the shore,—
What do they long for, as I long for
   One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
   Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,—
   Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
   Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,—

   One salt taste of the sea once more? 

If you missed my Northeast Adventures Bits and Pieces Part 1 click here or Part 2 click here.

Otherwise, check back in a few days for Part 3B.  

More reflections upon art and nature in Maine to come!