Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Drummond in the Spring

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.

The following poem was written by my granddaughter, Madison Rain Baker, in response to an English class assignment this spring. My heart sang when I read it for the first time. Who knew our family traditions - centered around time spent on Drummond - would have such an impact? Strong enough that a young, gregarious teenager would feel compelled to capture those feelings in prose? 


Drummond in Spring


Drummond Island is a friendly place.

Filled with different people

and different race.

Trees line the road like a trophy case.

Every day you meet a new face.

  

Surrounded by a big blue lake,

Sometimes I sit on the shore when there's too much to take.

We pull into the cabin and see the familiar image of the tan cabin with a green door.

Last time I left here I didn't want to go and I wanted more.


 
 
After we unpack we head down to the boat,

The red chipped paint sets a float.

We all sit down prepared for the cold sting

As our ears begin to ring.
 

                        

This is Drummond Island in the spring

When the birds come out ready to sing.



by Madison Rain Baker

3 comments:

Elaine said...

Very nice poetry. As my brother was told me,
do yourself a favor, start a poetry notebook. Be sure to date your pages. Keep on writing. Elaine Snively

The Retired One said...

Just found your blog and joined on as a Follower...I live in the U.P. too, on Michigamme Lake in a log home. I have a blog too, that features photography, and I take a lot of U.P. photos. I hope you stop by and join on as a Follower too. It is at: http://myretirementchronicles.blogspot.com
I host an amateur photographer's FREE PHOTO CONTEST every month, too where if you win, you get a widget to display on your blog. This month's theme is REFLECTIONS.
My brother knows someone who is a professional photographer and comes to Drummond to take wildflower photos every year. I hope to tag along with him to watch him take them and learn a lot..hopefully yet this spring.

Stephen S Head said...

We spent a summer on Drummond Island in the 60s while Dad hauled limestone. Have a very interesting story about a boat ride to the leeward side of an island a mile or so out of the Yacht Haven. Mom, Dad and 7 of us kids, the youngest being just several months old in a 16 foot cedar strip boat.