Poetry of and about Niagara Falls & the Niagara River – the waterfalls, the city, the history, the stunters, and everything else Niagara
I once met the man. We spoke for a bit.
He autographed something. That was pretty much it.
He went over Niagara once and lived.
On his second attempt, the poor guy got shivved.
Source: The author, ©2025
The note reads: To Ted Kriner: a great historian who knows the true spirit of the falls. I trust we will meet again together we will unlock the secrets of Niagara. Your friend Kirk Jones, Niagara Falls Survivor
Before the purblind European eye
had cast its greedy stare upon the stones
that cracked before the flood like brittle bones,
the Onguiaarhas chose this place to die.
Their name became Niagara to the Whites
—it’s all that’s left of them in their disgrace.
They bowed before a demon at this place
and sacrificed their daughters in his rites.
Instead of Hinon, thunder god, they prayed
to Tawiskaro, trickster of the north,
who charmed them with his voice and called them forth
to feed upon their souls—so it is said.
The Onguiaarhas warned us of the fall,
but men still answer to the demon’s call.
Source: T. W. Kriner.
T. W. Kriner is the author of Journeys to the Brink of Doom (1997), In the Mad Water (1999), Twelve Dozen Four-by-Fours (2025), and The Call of Tawiskaro (2025). He lives in a Western New York swamp with his wife and two cats.
Kriner says:
Of course the “myth” behind the sonnet was entirely fabricated by me. I continued this story in my recent short story collection . The idea is absurd. I admit that freely. But it was fun.
I’ve recently posted a fair number of poems at All Poetry .com, if you’d care to sample.
Walk to Terrapin Point and pick a spot.
Jump into the rapids with all youʼve got.
If the fall doesnʼt kill you, youʼll certainly drown.
Take a moment to f*ck yourself on the way down.
Source: T. W. Kriner. Twelve Dozen Four-by-Fours: Rhymes of a Cranky Old Conservative
J & J Publishing ©2025
Available at Amazon.com
T. W. Kriner is the author of Journeys to the Brink of Doom (1997), In the Mad Water (1999), Twelve Dozen Four-by-Fours (2025), and The Call of Tawiskaro (2025). He lives in a Western New York swamp with his wife and two cats.
Kriner says:
About three years ago I began writing what I call four-by-four poems: four lines with four beats per line, usually with a pair of rhyming couplets. The challenge for me was to do at least one or more of the following in each poem: tell a story; paint a picture; evoke or share a memory; express a political opinion; convey my view on a particular subject; do something else while trying to get a laugh. I’ve recently posted a fair number of them at All Poetry .com, if you’d care to sample.
Terrapin Tower was a popular tourist attraction from 1833 to 1873
To Jeanie
Dear Jeanie, while the deaf’ning roar
Of Niagara shakes the shore,
And in a misty mantle hoar,
Shrouds rock and tree,
My thoughts fly homeward evermore
To worship thee.
ʼTis true, this is the place and time
To feel and foster the sublime ;
Where men of ev’ry hue and clime,
Meet to adore,
And the rapt spirit’s glowing hymn,
May heavenward soar.
Yet still thy form, my peerless Jean,
Is ever present to my e’en,
Lighting with smiles each sylvan scene
By bower and hall,
Log-hut and hamlet, woodland green
And waterfall.
And when alone I wond’ring stand
Amid these revelations grand,
Which the Almighty builder’s hand
On high did rear,
I whisper, while my thoughts expand,
“ Would she were here ! ”
Would she were here to share my bliss,
Beholding grandeur such as this,
Where loud the tortur’d waters hiss,
And bright on high
The rainbow in its loveliness
Bedecks the sky.
Since first the stars together sung,
And earth was fair, and Time was young,
And Eden’s bowers responsive rung
Man’s song of praise,
That bow of beauty there hath hung
Its prism rays.
So o’er the scenes of storm and strife
That cloud the weary dream of life,
With pleasures scant, with sorrows rife,
A bow shall be
Thy love, my own leal-hearted wife,
For aye to me.
Away, ye hours, on falcon wing,
And back the wand’ring Willie bring,
Who scarcely now can think or sing,
Of aught but hame,
And her the queen of all the ring,
Dear Jeanie Graham.
Source: William Wilson, edited by Benson J. Lossing . Poems. 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie, NY : Archibald Wilson, 1875.
This poem is not found in the 1st edition published 1869, but is also found in the 3rd edition of 1881
A tribute to the Faculty and students of Mount Carmel College, who rushed to the rescue as the fire of January 10 devastated Loretto Academy.
Our Lady’s Knights of Carmel,
Whose inner life is led
Upon the mountain peaks of prayer
Where angels softly tread,
With zeal, to labour hasten—
Their joyful hearts serene—
To win new realms for their King,
And Heaven’s peerless Queen.
Their converse is with Heaven ;
Yet mindful of the need
Of toilers in the valley,
For fellow-men they plead,
Whom, when disaster threatens,
These valiant Knights descend
On Charity’s swift pinions,
Their whole-souled aid to lend.
Undaunted by the danger,
Disdaining selfish claim
That checks the noble impulse
Of hearts with love aflame,
They fly ; and all unconscious
They’ve deeds of prowess done,
Through darkness, cold, discomfort,
They toil till end is won.
Sweet Lady of Mount Carmel,
Who visited of old
The saints of that fair garden—
As by tradition told—
May Carmel of Niag’ra
E’er with your smile be blest ;
Your mantle of protection
Forever ’round it rest.
Source: Loretto Rainbow, vol. XLIV, no. 4, April 1938
Many thanks to Arden Phair for pointing this poem out to the Niagara Falls Poetry Project.