Eutrophication Of Golden Pond

February 28th, 1968 marked the date

Boyce Brandon Harris

(my octogenarian widower father)

purchased a small tract of land Pooh would Winnie

constituting shadowed sliver

once hailing, hallmarking, harkening, glorious vast

"Glen Elm" estate, which circa 1910 encompassed

a hundred plus acres of woodland

(including a pond frequented

by migrating Canadian Geese)

eventually zoned for commercial,

industrial, and residential development

(all in the name of productive land use)

particularly put into motion

courtesy Donald J. Neilson,

who transformed expansive woodland

rivaling shutterfly

sprouting like mushrooms towed stools

booming explosively

after ample precipitation

little houses on the hillside

little houses made of ticky tacky...

popped up overnight

transforming landscape

displacing flora and fauna with vinyl city

(minus spit of property papa bought)

manicured bumped uglies with wild wisp

reduced pristine niche leftover jot haven

squawking disoriented geese instincts

thwarted, where drained wetlands

a Arcadian past suburbanization

overlaying (palimpsest like) rural setting

trademark bucolic print Currier And Ives

stock in trade signature prints

landscape sparse human population

country aire sprinkled with family farms

fresh dairy, produce, vegetables

butchered animals free ranging

without synthetic injections

nostalgia faintly recreated here

Highland Manor Apartments

Schwenksville, Pennsylvania

a slip of country revered

against a Paul Ling urbanization

nothing appears familiar

retracing roadways now major highways

frequent moments breeds alienation

familiar ground confusing,

frightening, and perplexing.