Tag: niagara poet

Nature’s Wonder by Ruth Sullivan

sullivan
Niagara Falls
Photo by Edward Koorey on Unsplash

The falls of Niagara roll on, and on,
Tumbling and tossing, hither and yon,
Foaming and frothing over rocks, and shale,
Forever and ever, on its ancient trail.

Down through the rapids the water flows,
Twirling, and swirling as onward it goes,
Not a heed for anything on its way,
As it gains momentum, day after day.

What a story if water could tell!
All the happenings it knows so well,
Such beauty it leaves on a misty day,
When a rainbow appears on display.

Lights turned on the falls at night,
Illuminate a dazzling sight,
Tourists from far and wide see bliss,
The falls of Niagara, you must not miss.

Views in nature are a large feat.
Of the many you chance to meet
Come, see how the cataract enthralls.
Beautiful, beautiful Niagara Falls.

Source: Ely, Howard (ed.) The Best Poems and Poets of 2004. The International Library of Poetry, 2005

Ruth Sullivan was a long-time Niagara Falls resident.  Sullivan

 

Niagara Beautiful by Samuel R. Cristelli

cristelli
The Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls, February 5, 2007
Photo by Andrew Porteus

Fine sprays, colored rainbows,
Rushing waters, winter snows.
Majestically she roars her might,
Niagara, a truly beautiful sight!

Hark! Let us lend an ear
To rumbling sounds that are so near
Recognize her music with pride,
To Niagara! a drink we’ll imbibe!

Breathlessly we watch on a cold winter’s night
When NIagara waters are frozen tight
Ice bridges are formed on waters now ice,
Figurines are molded, does that not suffice?

The stage is set and sounds are slight,
Niagara is silenced by winter’s might.
A command performance soon we’ll see,
As Niagara prepares to break herself free!

With a mighty roar, she blasts her authority
Her fury is unleashed, she’s in her glory
Ice bridges are broken and skirting away
Niagara beautiful has had her say!

The rumbling sounds are heard once more
As Niagara boasts her strength galore!
All is beautiful-so serene
Beautiful Niagara, really supreme!

Source: Samuel R. Cristelli (Dec 5,1921 – Jul 18,1997). The date this poem was written is unknown. Cristelli, a WWII veteran, worked as an electrician and he wrote this poem for the electrical shop newsletter.  When he retired he worked as a supervisor with The Regional Municipality of Niagara at the Pollution Control Plant. The poem was provided by the author’s daughter, Shelley.

Read about the 1912 tragedy on the ice bridge that took 3 lives when it unexpectedly broke up

cristelli

Convenient Corner by Cole McInerney

convenient
Circle K on Thorold Stone Road, Niagara Falls, Ontario Image by Circle K

 

 

The consistent
consumer light
from the Circle K
that summer.

A mirage among
the sleeping suburb.

Zombie-like
worker.

Refrigerator
hummer.

The back wall
title text
cheap soda
happiness guarantee,
like broadcasting
palm trees
on a green screen.

Back out to
the parking lot
below the
practically perfect
Circle Moon

Source: The author, 2023

Convenient Corner was first published in Echolocation, vol. 20, March 2023. Convenient Corner was inspired by the Circle K  on Thorold Stone Road, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Cole McInerney is a poet from Niagara Falls, Ontario. He studied English at Toronto Metropolitan University. Currently, he is a MFA student at the University of South Carolina, studying poetry. His poems have been published in several print and online publications, including Feral Poetry, White Wall Review, The Bookends Review, and Echolocation Magazine.

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See all of Cole McInerney’s poems on the Niagara Falls Poetry Project website:

•     The Buildings of the Dream
•     Convenient Corner
•     Lake Erie
•     Russell Street

Under the Locust Boughs by Tom Lloyd Finlayson

To “J.” — written under the locust trees along the banks of the Niagara

locust

Ussher’s Creek at the Niagara River Parkway
Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library

In a realm of song and shine,
Where God’s sweetest wild flowers twine,
By Niagara’s singing stream,
Last night in a golden dream,
Wandered I, while at my side
Was a laughing maid, blue-eyed.
Spun from the silk of the corn
Were her tresses, waist length worn;
Fragile, as small pinkest shells
Her wee ears; like jingling bells
Tinkling in the soul of me
Her pure laugh of ecstacy.
Underneath the blossoming boughs
Of the locust, tender vows
Once again our young hearts made;
While the violins that played
Of the breeze, through blooms above,
Thrilled our souls with God’s first love

Source: Tom Lloyd Finlayson. Songs of Niagara Frontier and Other Poems; Autographed by the Author. St. Thomas, Sutherland Press, Limited. n.d.

Judging from the locations mentioned in the poems in this pamphlet it seems that Finlayson spent his childhood in Fort Erie, Ontario.

Niagara, I Love You by Tom Lloyd Finlayson

Written during a recent visit to Niagara Falls, Canada

finlayson

The Horseshoe Falls, 1928
Photograph by Fred Noma. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

Men tell of the spell of the Rockies,
The glamour of the seven seas —
Here in my own native home-land
A wonder dwells greater than these.

…………REFRAIN:

When cherry boughs glow
And soft breezes blow,
Niagara, I love you, I do —
When silvery moonlight,
Strikes your shoulders white,
Niagara, I love you, it’s true —
Fair queen of the wild
I’ve loved since a child
God speaks in the thunder of you —
When in your wild hair
God’s rainbow you wear —
Niagara, I love you, I do.

Source: Tom Lloyd Finlayson. Songs of Niagara Frontier and Other Poems; Autographed by the Author. St. Thomas, Sutherland Press, Limited. n.d.

Judging from the locations mentioned in the poems in this pamphlet it seems that Finlayson spent his childhood in Fort Erie, Ontario.