Millions of gallons
of surging water,
unstopping, relentless,
swirling through the gorges,
hurdling over the rocks,
furiously charging, headlong,
like a mighty herd of buffalo
racing madly toward a precipice,
but on a scale
and with an intensity
that overwhelms the observer,
reducing one to a mere spectator,
humbled by the sound and the fury
of nature’s most enduring
exhibition of unbridled power
at a place called …
Niagara Falls
Listen to Surging Water by Phillip W. Weiss. Read by Oliver Porteus
Copyright (c) 2004 Phillip W. Weiss
Source: The author, 2004.
Niagara Falls
majestic curtains
of surging water
cascading, never-ending,
onto the jagged rocks below.
Creating a roar,
like rolling thunder,
a tidal wave of sound
reverberating off the cliffs,
both powerful and soothing,
it can even lull a baby
to sleep.
And of course the mist,
floating high into the sky,
like plumes of gossamer silk,
meeting the rays of the sun,
forming radiant rainbows,
each a crescent of dazzling colors,
like a tiara of diamonds
adorning the royal head of
a noble queen.
For Niagara Falls
is nature’s gift to humanity:
her splendor unmatched,
her beauty sublime,
to be admired and treasured,
like a priceless gem,
for all times.
On thundering feet you take the dread abyss,
Shaking the stolid earth around, below,
Where puny mortals gaze but may not know
The cosmic surge of elemental bliss,
The soaring passion of the lethal kiss
That hides within your swift arterial flow.
Most prodigal of waters, to bestow
So rich inheritance on man as this.
Niagara, the mighty, rainbow-spanned,
Majestic, terrible your potency!
What aeons since He cupped you in His hand
Who gave His space its wheeling argosy,
And bade you ride this rampart of our land
Companionless, alone, eternally!
Source: V.B. Rhodenizer, (ed.) Canadian Poetry Magazine vol. 22, no. 3, Spring 1959.
imagine all that’s gone before,
then stroll through time and back again
just to be there both now and then.
Sip some wine enjoy a tour
or perhaps a spa to take a cure,
A short drive to see The Falls..
while all around you nature calls,
At the casino take a chance
Perhaps ‘Lady Luck’ will ask to dance.
World class hotels, great B & B’s,
Country Inns all geared to please,
fine restaurants and Queen street shopping
still you’re poised for border hopping
Golf, cycling, sailing for those who care
or a shaded porch, a good book, an easy chair.
Quaint little houses made of ginger bread,
museums, grande estates
show how life was led.
Antiques and butterflies galore,
fairy sightings by the shore.
How wonderful all this might seem,
enough for any mortal dream.
Gravestone of Robert Randall, Drummond Hill Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
The brooding voice of spring is in the air,
The mighty winds are hushed, are very still;
Within a burial ground I wind my way —
A sunny place upon a sunny hill.
I fain would read a legend here and there,
But Time has passed with his erasing hand;
And, on the battered stones that head these graves,
The half-intelligible letters stand.
The peace of God, which no man understands,
Beams kindly down upon the greening sod,
And, underneath, where sacred ashes lie
Of those who‘ve gone before to meet their God.
Full many an unknown spirit lies at peace
With heart against the earth‘s warm heart close-pressed:
Their dust, as ashes of the rose that lie,
Its perfume gone, fallen to earth‘s soft breast.
The summer sky is kind to all alike,
And over all the skies are fair and clear;
And, in the solemn stillness of this hour,
It seems as if I were intruding here.
But no resentment these poor ashes feel,
For God has called their souls from here below;
And in this hour He speaks to my lone soul —
He seems to call and I could wish ‘twere so.
But God has measured out my length of days,
And His sweet will is all in all to me.
O Father, guide my thoughts, my life, my soul,
To thy great glory, till Thou callest me!
Source: Kevin McCabe, ed. The Poetry of Old Niagara. St. Catharines, Ont. : Blarney Stone Books, 1999.
Originally published: Ada Elizabeth Fuller. Sunshine and Shadow. Niagara Falls, 1919.
