The smooth flow of water draws me near
Embraces me like a warm blanket
Caresses my soul in its perfection
Patterns shifting but staying the same
Noise from the crowd fades
Music crashing from the brink fills my being
Drawing me closer and closer
I close my eyes
Completely enveloped in the peace
Nothing else exists in this fleeting moment
Not the first visit
Never the last visit
Eternally a part of me
Source: The author, 2026
At the Brink was entered into the Niagara Falls Poetry Project’s 25th Anniversary Poetry Contest.
Louise Waldie is the retired head of the IT project management office of a major national insurance company, and wife of Andrew Porteus (curator of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project). She has been active for many years on the executive of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Social Club, and as a volunteer personal shopper for people in Northern Canada who do not have access to retail outlets. In their multigenerational complex blended family , Louise and Andrew have 5 children and 11 grandchildren with assorted spouses, and a great-grandchild.