The Great Dismal Swamp - Mar 15 2021

 

The Great Dismal Swamp

Mar 15 2021

In the state of Virginia

there is a place called The Great Dismal Swamp.

A place clearly named

by a plain-speaking literalist,

a methodical maker of maps

not given

to poetry or metaphor.

Because aren't all swamps dismal

one much like the other?

Does the definite article even belong

when a great dismal swamp

would be far less presumptuous?

Slaves hid there

protected by its wildness.

On small islands

in houses raised on stilts,

more fearful of their masters

than panthers and bears.

But civilization encroaches

and nature comes under threat,

drained and tamed and emptied out.

So how does this swamp persist?

Too dismal

too big,

too boggy, humid, hot?

Just be grateful is does,

a refuge from our greed

reminder of our fears.

“Dismal”, of course, depends on the observer,

and hardly applies

where snakes and spiders flourish

fertile water gives life,

slaves risked all for freedom

and this poet is inspired.

A name so literal, it compels me to embellish.

Yet could stand by itself,

a found poem

of four words

in one simple line.

I didn't even complete the sentence of the article in which this appeared before I was up out of my chair and at the laptop. A found poem that could easily have stood by itself! When I googled (of course I did!), I expected there might be numerous great dismal swamps: it seems more of a descriptor than a proper name. But this one came up, now a wildlife refuge straddling North Carolina and Virginia. It was also the subject of a very popular podcast. A link follows (episode 271 of 99% Invisible).

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/great-dismal-swamp/