The Heart Walls of the D R Canal

Every form of life has it's walls, nothing, no one stands alone some are trees, brush, branch, twig and wood and bark some are mortar and stone, mere workers flesh and bone others lay in memorials of the mind and heart of freedom's start. Walking in the shadows of the forest growing bare the pathway, worn and tattered by twigs and leaves of this locale abandoned layers born of unknown, hidden architects no longer there an opening spillway becomes a stage to walled canals. Some harvested stone stacked upon each side keeping water flow secure along Delaware and Raritan park roams contained and directed from Bound Brook on to Princeton pride away from the mix of dirt and cobblestones. Who once walked here, where canoed and kayak waters strewn? along this unpaved curl of hidden trails indemnity twists and turns unfurling to a spillway hewn where memorials now stand as markers without memory. They say, Irish immigrants built this waterway like a well-planned quilt some bodies buried where they worked and died benath the rocked mortared wall containments blood built and their hearts sought freedom without walls that today still cry, For Craig Cornish cotest, A Wall in the Woods 10/7/2020 Background: The 70-mile Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park is one of central New Jersey's most popular recreational corridors for canoeing, jogging, hiking, bicycling, fishing and horseback riding. The canal and the park are part of the National Recreation Trail System. This linear park is also a valuable wildlife corridor connecting fields and forests. A recent bird survey conducted in the park revealed 160 species of birds, almost 90 of which nested in the park. With its wooden bridges and 19th century bridge tender houses, remnants of locks, cobblestone spillways and hand-built stone-arched culverts, the canal is a tremendous attraction for history lovers. The upper portion of the feeder canal follows the Delaware River through historic New Jersey towns such as Frenchtown, Stockton and Lambertville. The main canal passes the Port Mercer bridge tender's house, through the charming villages of Kingston and Griggstown to Blackwells Mills.