Page 7 - demo
P. 7
Writers & Landmarks
Reflections on Honeoye Falls
by Kerri Pierce
Honeoye Falls (pre-thaw, late February)— Honeoye Falls (post-thaw, late March)
Looking down: a heron picking its way
Frozen now into a spiky, rippling
curtain, arrested in motion, though spring, around the falls—fishflash in the stream!—like
of course, is coming, and with its new thaw, life didn’t slowfreeze for five or six months
a thunder that’s modestly deafening— of winter hibernation—
not Niagara’s rip-roaring barrel-ride, Tall, flanking
in other words, where you picture yourself tan buildings, a century plus, have been
PLUNGING, giving the word fall new context, preserved through fire and age (the Village Hall,
into a scream-devouring THUNDER destroyed, rebuilt). You feel the years harbored
while people stand, watching, horror-frozen, as you stand here, see the cracking—
thrilled, capturing your descent on cell phones—
selfie!—but a down-the-street miracle Below,
you wonder at (stomach intact) and think the RUSHHH sound of falling water striking
how quiet the ice drips now before—RUSHHH! rocks—quickdive! fishflash in the heron’s beak!—
off the main street of an older small town,
as present as the present is past here—
at least how water always makes it seem.
Illustration by Mark Payton
Kerri Pierce is a writer, translator, and mother of two living with a bunch of yard deer and some wayward pond geese in Honeoye Falls, NY.
While pretending to be sane, she tries to channel the craziness into her writing and art projects.
LANDMARKS | SUMMER 2019 7
