Poetry Friday: Quechee Gorge cherita

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I originally shared this photo on my Facebook page a few days ago along with a few others I’d taken while visiting Quechee Gorge in Vermont, a “mini-Grand Canyon” just over the NH border. As I was taking some of the photos, I immediately knew I’d have to write a few poems about them – and sure enough, this was the first! It is a cherita, an English poetic form that has its roots in the haiku & tanka tradition. (I’ve written cheritas before, HERE and HERE)

If you ever visit Vermont, this is definitely a place I’d encourage you to visit; the entire trail, from one end to the other, is less than a mile, so you can spend a day there and really enjoy the weather, scenery, and your time! Or, if you’d like to extend your walk up through the Dewey Pond Trail at the upper end of the gorge (see the photo to the left), you can add an extra mile to your visit.

The gorge was created about 15,000 years ago when glaciers retreated and carved their calling card into the bedrock; a glacial lake (Lake Hitchcock) that had formed in Connecticut from all the glacial deposits eventually extended all the way up through the Green Mountain State and into Canada, before succumbing to erosion as the glaciers receded and the Ottauquechee River formed. You can read more about the gorge HERE.

If you’d care to read a poem I wrote 2 years ago for my daughter’s birthday, inspired by the Dewey Pond Trail, you can view it HERE. And if you’d like to check out all of today’s Poetry Friday links, please be sure to stop by Deowriter, where Jone Rush MacCulloch is hosting the complete roundup!

OK, one more shot…

(click to enlarge)

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