Freely Espousing by James Schuyler
Penobscot
Penobscot
Open water facing Bradbury snags fog in its spruce.
Eagle has a meadow down its spine;
Compass, a cave; Scrag, five trees.
On Dirigo apples hang down into raspberries;
nearby, a lilac. Many remember
its old name, Butter, though Little Spruce Head
only one man still calls Frenchman's.
Birch-pale Beach has a chapel,
Bear has sheep. On others:
seals, butter-and-eggs, cellar holes.
From here we see them all, and more,
and the Camden Hills, Mount desert, Blue Hill, Deer Isle
and ocean facing Isle au Haut
where the breakers roll stones to cannon balls.