Connecticut Belle Poem by Judith Boos

So much has been written of rivers in rhyme
Perhaps I should set aside quill,
Sing not of Connecticut River Sublime,
Whose essence enriches our vale for all time
Caressing where words never will.
Lakes deep in New Hampshire give rise to our well
Soon nurtured by Green Mountain's white,
And Long Tidal River alive to fresh swell
Meanders the span of Old Colony's dell
To quicken our Yankee delight.
A Skipper from Boston once said of our stream:
"Your river from Bodkin Rock south
Is stunning in beauty, a mariner's dream,
While stubborn as can be in gathering steam
And pressing past Essex for mouth."
In keep are lush maples and laurel-flushed wilds.
Long meadows where willows abound
As Evergreen Belle, leaving course that beguiles,
Unwinds to the sweetest of 400 miles --
Her Destiny, Long Island Sound.