Photo by Albert Knobloch
Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
Back in ‘69
was decided to divert
mighty river
to dry falls.
Why, you might ask
For the Army Corp
to remove large rocks,
great majesty to fall
further into depths
at the base, Maid to see
splendor from the mist
but did they expect
remains to be found,
those fallen and drowned
forever lost in those rocks?
Spectators traveled far
and even those near sought
to see the dry falls, huge
drop sans thunderous water;
I was among those there
young teen at the railing,
hundreds lined up, a turn
to witness such an event,
dried up river bed, dry falls
never seen again since,
burned into my closed eyes,
even photographs cannot
diminish that great memory.
This poem was written in 2024 and is previously unpublished.
Julie A. Dickson is originally from Buffalo, NY. Her father’s family was from Guelph and Vineland Station, Ontario, Canada in the late 1800’s, they founded the Culverhouse Canning Factory there. Dickson lived near Lake Erie and Niagara Falls until her early teens, when her family relocated to Massachusetts. Always the lakes-girls, her poems often reflect in memories of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and visiting the falls. Her poems appears in many journals including Ekphrastic Review, Misfit, Open Door and others; full length works on Amazon. Dickson has been a guest editor, past poetry board member, is an advocate for captive elephants and shares her home with two rescued cats.
Julie A. Dickson was the guest editor of the Ekphrastic Review challenge to write a poem inspired by Frederic Edwin Church’s painting Niagara, 1857. See a page about ekphrastic poetry of Niagara, including the poems from the Ekphrastic Review