Tag: wind

The Winds of Niagara by Ada Elizabeth Fuller

winds
Niagara Mornings, February 15, 2007. Winds Blowing Mist
Photo by Andrew Porteus

Blow strong from the River, O Breeze,
‡‡For hot are my passions to-day.
Breathe soft from your feathery trees
‡‡And blow all my sorrows away.
Oh make my heart buoyant and glad,
‡‡As gay and as free as thou art;
For my soul is so weary and sad,
‡‡I would have its dark visions depart.

Oh breezes that ripple and curl
‡‡The waves on the great river’s breast,
The banners of morning unfurl
‡‡Their gleams on each foaming wave’s crest!
So lull my wild passions to rest
‡‡As you airilv dance to the sea,
And the thoughts that are wholesome and best
‡‡Will scatter their blessings on me!

Source:  Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Sunshine and Shadow: Poems by Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Niagara Falls, Ont.: Ada Elizabeth Fuller, 1919

See  the Niagara Mornings photographs by Andrew Porteus on YouTube

On the Bridge at Chippawa by David Hobberlin

hobberlin 

hobberlin
Diving off the Weightman Bridge in Chippawa, 1970s. Photo courtesy of the Niagara Falls Public Library

I love to experience the wind at Chippawa
whenever the Westerly blows strong.
How it presses back the eager boughs.
How it scuffs the tops of the water crests
that so mark the dark river’s frown.
How it seeks to scour this single bridge
that spans the narrows still.
How it empties itself where the Niagara begins.
How it sweeps and then swoops and then curls…
How it harbors all my longing
when it enters the cataract’s pull.
How it soars above the majestic gorge.
How it disperses the spray of a rainbow arc
before flying headlong toward the whirlpool of fate;
there to add to the mix of the new with the old
in a breach as endless as time can permit.
How it encourages joy from where ever it dwells
to flavor one’s hope, one’s heart, and one’s dream.
How it cleanses my spirit.
How it clings to my will.

May, 2020
Source: David Hobberlin
I am a Canadian poet currently living in Chippawa. Over the years my poems have appeared in a number of anthologies and periodicals beginning with the anthology ‘Canadian Poets of 1969’.

The poem ‘On the Waterfront of Toronto’ earned the Monica Ladell Award 2012 for best poem presented by the Scarborough Arts Society.

I have participated in various poetry readings and venues held in Toronto, Scarborough, Welland, St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Niagara Falls.

Grey Borders Books published three chapbooks of my poetry – Inanna  (A Tale of Sumer),  Reflections on the Republic, and Going to Work on a Snowy Morning. Click to visit the David Hobberlin page on the Grey Borders Books website
The Indian Heritage Council of Morristown, Tennessee, published a limited edition chapbook ‘The Pipe Maker and Other Poems’ in the millennial year 2000..