Marker in central Maine where Benedict Arnold’s expedition portaged their bateaux on their way up the Kennebec River to attack the British at Quebec in late September and early October 1775.
It has a colonial, archaic flavor.
When whispered (the carrying place),
it seeps conspiracy.
It marks the century
of its greatest need,
when history fought at the doorstep.
A place to carry over,
to portage a canoe,
help pull across a wagon filled
with fire tempered lives.
The place to: carry women heavy
with coming centuries;
drive horse-pulled wagons filled
with grain, boots polished for war,
moccasined leggings; make stealthy
crossings for unrecorded reasons,
fulfilling unwritten histories.
The helping place where
hands need be strong, not friendly,
that lives may flow into heritage.
Gus Bombard lives in Old Town.