The white pine, conscripted by the Royal Navy in the 18th century, was first discovered by the British in groves 400 years old and counting. Some individual trees reached over 200 feet in height. Later, in 1821, Timothy Dwight published Travels in New England and New York: “There is reason to fear that this noblest of all vegetable productions will be unknown in its proper size and splendor to future inhabitants of New England.”
Landscapes bear traces, and in the light of change traces are transformed into presences. How many nights by the river have I indulged free-ranging melancholy by staring into the dark waves. Only the moon sometimes competes for my attention.
autumn moon—
where white pines soared
the black Piscataqua
