Our Glen Cove neighbor, Kathleen Herrmann, is one of two poet laureates for the City of Vallejo. Below is a poem she wrote about Glen Cove Waterfront Park.
Sogorea Te
Foggy morning ramble down to the cove
Steel struts under the bridge opaque
Shallow tide pulses, Coyote’s stalks nearby, Hawkcircles with predatory eye
Above a timeless place called Sogorea Te
Indigenous peoples settled here in 1500 B.C.
Weaving baskets from supple grasses, fishing on the strait, grinding acorns into meal, simmering thistlesinto tender greens, curating medicinal remedies
Life sustained generation after generation until white conquest staked its claim
Village abandoned to unknown fate
Patwin and Ocha Deche tribes occupied, wonstewardship of hallowed grounds
Sacred burial sites still rise on the shore, shellmoundsintact, not violated or destroyed
Yarrow, ceanothus, sage and wild rose attract bugs and birds, pollinators all
Hummingbirds divebomb bright fuchsia blooms, sipsweet nectar from red-orange cups
Fog thins, filtered light breaks through, mist lifts from ground up
Traffic streams across the span, two-story homessurround high and low, train traverses opposite shore, factory stacks huff and puff
Yet there still exists a place apart, where new stories fold into the old
Where animal spirits live large, dream chasers dance,tribal communities gather, lovers succumb
A timeless place called Sogorea Te