The Porpoise
January 10, 1996
There was a porpoise
in the Susquehanna River.
Traffic jammed along its western edge:
Williamsport, Middle Pennsylvania,
decayed home of millionaires past -
strove at dusk for a glimpse
of the silvery creature
from the sea.
Everything here is so far
from the oceans:
smokestacks, combines, dirty dishes....
Yet ... as the mists of ancient memory
arise in you,
O Middle Pennsylvania -
breakers foam.