A Realist in Acadia

From my perch high above the sea, I watched the dance of lobster boats and sea gulls. The sky was unnaturally blue. There were some cumulus clouds above the land but it was completely clear all the way to the horizon. But if you followed that line where the sky meets the ocean northwards, you could see a distant tracing of cumulus clouds. Landfall!

A Realist in Acadia

The sky appears synthetic blue
above the sea. The lobster boats
keep circling in their private wakes
while seagulls follow, sounding notes
of counterfeit condolences.
It doesn’t matter what He says,
no God would make this story up.
I look across the Gulf of Maine
and see a slender scalloping
of clouds. I’d like to entertain
the thought it’s Nova Scotia’s shore,
because I know it isn’t Labrador.

Gregory Perry 2004

I discussed this fact with a fellow hiker I met on the trail. Nova Scotia, he said, was 100 miles across the Gulf of Maine. He was skeptical and I agreed I wouldn't bet my life on it. "I wouldn't start paddling," he laughed. He hiked on and I stayed looking at that thin line of clouds. Luckily I wasn't kayaking.