A series of loose Petrarchan sonnets meditating on the Hudson River School. These were featured as part of “Falling for Pawling,” a musical production based on student works performed by the Sherman Chamber Ensemble. This is the first poem in the series.
They have told me be patient – Rome was not built in a day
Yet I’ve heard of heavens making men by breathing dust,
And I’ve seen art of travelers who, in wanderlust,
Sail their lives in a year in the Hudson Bay.
They have told me to just follow the signs that point to the way
But all this time I’ve been circling adrift on the unjust
Oxbow rivers. I’ve been lost and found and have rushed
To find who I am, and I’m still far away.
In a month they built this nation on the peaks of the Catskills
With oil paint and rivers dripping down on blank canvas.
Yet I’ve been dropping bricks on soil since February,
Dragging my fingers through the dirt on the rolling hills.
I’ve treaded stone oceans since my forever began in blackness,
Searching for myself, not halfway there yet, and already weary.
