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View Near Elizabethtown, N.J., 1847, by Régis François Gignoux
On Fresh Fallen Snow–1847
by Paulette Demers Turco
One young man of color stands alone,
listening to the winding river groan.
He’s keeping watch on melting shallow snow
while children run and slide nearby, don’t know
this major river’s shifting ice is prone
to crack, as much-shared local history’s shown.
Here, as shadows lengthened, darkness neared,
poor and privileged children disappeared.
Skies of lavender and glints of gold
dimmed over failed rescues in the cold.
Still, this young man’s dad is not revered,
though he once saved a child. He volunteered,
alone, to reach deep in the frigid hole.
Shivering, he knew, to fail would gut his soul.
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