GREAT LAKES DEBACLE

Great Lakes debacle
By james a. galgano

Chipping away along the Chippewa along a clear autumn night
Fueling a worn ferry towards a navigated port beneath Great Lakes moonlight
Five days spent fishing for more than the catch of the day often Pike.
Saving enough for a soon Christmas day for children and families needing delight
To forget the despairing days of a Mid-western economy caught in descending decay.
Hoping for an elusive tomorrow that for eight years has not seen the light of day.
Within a now dying occupation that for years before provided more than needed
But as the economy set across this vast terrain hopes ignored dire cast unheeded
By generational hopes lingering upon a slim prayer all fears would soon be resolved
Giving hopes to cherished heritage forever fading behind the approaching clouds.
Of foreboding night where every eye is glued to sky above hoping for falling star
To wish away each hovering fright what has been previously revered in shroud.
Once more will delight and hold its previous sway pulling now near empty freight.
Along Chippewa's each bending turn along knotted emotions, which so easily fray.
Beneath the undertow of autumnal night as winter approaches like impending doom
As life one has known for generations becomes nothing more than welcoming tomb
Where such endless expectations now return to infertile womb seeking revelation
Which may never be discovered upon worn ferry's bow cascading into endless night?
Fueling still every hope and dream surely navigated into Great Lakes ominous light.