Another night falls with the old mill moonlit,
its pale light shines through each crack and slit.
Many boards are warped and bent with age,
the milling stone trapped in a timber cage.
Water still gurgled by in the sluice coated with slime,
the wheel long gone with the passage of time.
The gears and cogs are in a rueful mess,
the bearings long frozen from what time does best.
Not much structural damage as the timbers were strong,
it was built by skilled craftsmen in an age to last long.
Its foundation river stone fitted by a master mason,
though covered by years has suffered little degradation.
Even today it could be put to service again,
but many skills have been lost so where to begin.
The grind stones are still solid and true,
fine stone well cut to grind grain and oats too.
Some could even be converted to generate power,
the workforce of water to create horsepower.
So many things now done with fossil fuels,
were years ago, accomplished with just such tools.
The mill pond is an ecosystem and with life it teams,
fly fishing in the dawn is every angler’s dream.
Though many claim dams are a rivers blight,
on a misty morning they can be a wonderful sight.
Weather a misty morning or on a clear moonlit night,
many a soul soars with the beauty of natures might.
So many animals are grateful for the pond to reside,
things that a shallow fast-moving creek did not provide.
All manner of animals and creatures gather near,
for the shelter and food sources that are provided here.
The last of the family who had owned it you see,
willed it the State unmolested for a park to be.
Over three hundred acres of land, lake, and tree,
so that never a developer or a Condo to see.
There is a remodeled homestead house up on the rise,
this is where the park caretaker and his family reside.
The position paid for by a grant that came with the land,
to ensure that the property never gets out of hand.
The view is stunning where he sits on the porch,
watching as the public enjoys the resource.
More places like this we need in our great nation,
to learn to appreciate this kind of conservation.
Timothy L. Van Dyke
5/18/2016