Produced by Dennis Camire

Casco Bay, July

By Alice Persons

There are many watershed moments,

Not Hallmark, not Kodak

I will remember about knowing you,

And wish I could purge from memory.

But the evening we paddled

Out from Mackworth Island

On the limpid, calm bay

In a slight, freshening breeze

And twelve curious seals slid off their grey rock

And encircled us in the water

While we sat motionless, scarcely breathing,

Kayaks barely moving in the still water

And the only sound was the crying of gulls…

The seals’ whiskery faces and dark eyes

Regarding us solemnly

While they kept us in their circle,

Diving and resurfacing and moving

Around us so gracefully —

That moment

I do not wish away.

Dennis Camire can be reached at dcamire@cmcc.edu