God.

TAHQUAMENON FALLS

I sit alone, here in my easy chair,

Inspired by thoughts that are my very own.

Once more I breathe the pure pine-scented air,

And wander through the forests I have known.

It seems I see the great Tahquamenon,

And hear the thunder of the waterfall.

I watch the ambered waters rolling on,

And gaze up at the forest trees so tall.

I think of legends that I came to know

Of this great stream where golden waters run

Laughing and splashing to the falls below,

Its falling waters sparkling in the sun.

A pathway leads me through the wilderness,

Under the cliffs where cateracts appear;

A strange enchanting land of loneliness,

The domain of the beaver, bear, and deer.

I think of all these things as I recall

The sighing trees, the happy songs of birds;

The music of the distant waterfall,

That lovely forest song that has no words.

May we preserve such wilderness as this

Where men make paths for other men to trod,

Where nature offers solitude and bliss,

Where nature’s beauty makes one think of God.

Arthur Franklin Mapes