We need one another,
So I will defend,
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.
~ A. Kramer*, J. Whitney*
We islands,
gathered ‘round the campfire;
a fire we built,
a scene we set,
a ceremony called A Scout’s Own.
We sang John Donne’s words,
the Lettermen’s lyrics,
as the smoke curled heavenward
we spoke, we listened, we watched.
The fire coaxing sighs, from us,
the pine cones
crackling, shifting, falling to ashes.
A holy moment in the pines,
their green, fingers coaxing, their voices
sifting song, wind, smoke,
the joining, the forming of one
new commonwealth.
Linda Trott Dickman — an award-winning poet, author of three chapbooks. Her work has been featured in local and international anthologies She is the coordinator of poetry for the Northport Arts Coalition. She teaches at local museums, leads a poetry workshop at Samantha’s Li’l Bit O’ Heaven coffee house.
