Plymouth, Four Hundred Years Later

by The Cowl Editor on October 24, 2019


Poetry


by Sarah McLaughlin ’23

Tourists converge from Earth’s every corner to see
The piece of the past stored on this pebbled beach

All paths extending westward from the east
Meet here, the first of our nation’s vertices

It’s so special to so many, apparently
To view—The Rock—which began our history

They’ve never switched it out, supposedly
The first stone tread upon by pilgrim feet

It’s always tempting, every time you meet
Someone for whom it’s always been their dream

To stare down at this thing—a comical scene—
To make up some absurd conspiracy

“Now, I’m not saying it’s a government scheme,
But I think it was replaced in ’63.”

But then I decide instead to let them be
To let them stare—reverential and naive

We all have Rocks—things we cling to and esteem
And no local lark could break our make-believe.by