Nova Scotia, first day

Nova Scotia opens to us

down down we drive,

along a peninsula that looks skinny on a map,

but feels prideful and sure of itself, 

as if remembering long ago 

when Pangea broke apart,

and its stones witnessed the opening of the Atlantic ocean,

a rift appeared, magma welled-up,

and the basalt cooled into many-sided columns,

their cliffs remember the Fire,

pine woods, spruce forest, and lupines shout of dominance

on this glacier-scoured land

where granite boxers can’t help but tell

of the great cold smithing of the ice,

they remember the Cold,

tides here shout of how reactive the sea can be with its tides,

a boat can lie on land

and a few hours later float in the risen bay,

great swaths of seaweed

spend half their life below

and half above the surface,

we are intrigued by how reactive cuisine can be here,

celebrating bounty from water and land;

an exquisite harmony that should be how we humans

adapt to what is possible and rings true

to what can be sustained.

by Henry H. Walker

June 20, ‘19
uploaded 6/25/19 just as our ferry leaves Digby, Nova Scotia, for St. John, New Brunswick