18th April 1775 on the strong big-boned mare
'Brown Beauty' may have been her name
borrowed from John Larkin a very good horse
of Narragansett Pacer fame
a copper-bottomed silversmith
Son of Liberty Patriot and Boston-born
riding with Prescott and Dawes toward Lexington
then Concord minutemen in advance to warn
of the British Army's actions
was intercepted in Lincoln but doing his bit
the man had lanterns as the plan
and arranged to have a signal lit
in the Charlestown Old North Church
with one if by land two if by sea
but in those long-gone days
as it was unknown technology
right then and there
it was quite unlikely to see
three if by air
some say vestryman Pulling and sexton Newman
(not a deacon)
as the midnight rider never made it all the way
were the real heroes of the day in fact quite a beacon
Categories:
charlestown, america, animal, celebrity, freedom,
Form: Rhyme
Whitewashed cottages and circling gulls
The crest of a wave hits the beach as it rolls
Evening shadows hang, on old harbour walls
Be quick! We’ll get home before darkness falls.
Categories:
charlestown, eve, sea, summer,
Form: Rhyme
Only silence dresses her rigging now
To the call of the bosun’s whistle
Her hatches now stand locked and secure
Where long past sailors once lingered
She is the last of the old frigates
Moored in the shallows of Charlestown
Board her and hear her echoes of valor
Haughtily anchored her colors humbly fly
No blemishes on her hull show her battles
Her carronades still sit silently waiting
As she floats mythically at ease
For a moment I can hear the great moans
Her keel and sailors cresting Atlantic waves
To Captain Hulls orders to come about
And charge on the enemy ship Guerriere
On her decks I feel the plight of her dead
Hearing stories of centuries old bulkheads
Astounding feats of a morose pride
To have brought their foe to capitulate
Now she stands tacit though ever grand
And still on her decks and deep in the bowels
The mighty spirit of U.S.S. Constitution dwells
A monument of endurance softly whispering
“Lest we remember long forgotten sacrifices…”
Categories:
charlestown, history, inspirational, loss, mystery,
Form: Free verse
May I lift sorrow from your sunken chest
Hold your weary frown at valor’s behest
I wish these words we could have shared
My opportunity…tears from your despair
How many brethren did you lose this day
Unsung dreams lying in an unmarked grave
You fought for a life, you would never live
Your bravery an anthem, this nation your gift
You were colonial peasants, uneducated rabble at best
Outnumbered and abated, branded by a crown’s crest
Yet your courage was contagious, charging as you bled
You sacrificed your very breath, the last one I just read
I did not know, as feet swept by you like smoke filled shards
The last sight you saw, a frayed flag’s wavering call to arms
From Charlestown to Saratoga, not a single battle was won
Except this war, the birthplace of freedom’s newfound son
Was it your belief in fate, that fighting spirit of Bunker Hill
Crossing the icy night, retreating only to Washington’s will
Or was it conviction, in the heart of a martyred man
Dying for a dream, but not to be driven from his land
Categories:
charlestown, history, inspirational, introspection, loss,
Form: Dramatic Monologue