Preening in Calm Water | Hannah Matriccino
The Sleeping Beast
By Jay Schofield
Laid out before me is the great Susquehanna River,
As she flows, she carves a path through the mountains,
Her deceptively peaceful waters hide her strength,
As she cuts through stone and shale.
Three hundred million years of sweeping waves,
One of the oldest river systems in the world,
She has seen more than we could ever imagine,
And held more life than we could ever perceive.
She can carry the heaviest boulder hundreds of miles,
Smoothing it as it turns in the current,
She can wash away the finest of sands,
Building and destroying islands with her will.
Her nutrients sustain ecosystems,
While her floods can destroy them.
For in her floodplains sit the wetlands,
Where wildlife hides away.
Thousands of organisms call the river their home.
From a small algae bloom, floating in the tide,
To a fifteen-pound flathead catfish, sleeping in the silt,
She sees the life and death of every creature.
I watch the gentle waves sparkle,
Reflecting sunlight off their peaks.
I feel calm and comfortable,
Sitting next to this sleeping beast.
Jay Schofield is a senior at Susquehanna University studying Environmental Science and Ecology. They currently work at the CEER as an Environmental Education and Outreach Intern and have worked under the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper as well as the Chesapeake Conservancy. They are currently working on a thesis on campus tree health and urban tree planning. Jay’s favorite part of studying the natural sciences is getting to spend lab time outside and going on field trips to local forests and wetlands. They hope to one day work as a restoration specialist or environmental educator for a non-profit organization.