Poem #5, PAD Challenge 2009

Today's poem prompt was to write about a landmark, which could mean Mt. Rushmore or the Sphinx or something as mundane as a local water tower.

Ready for a really rough draft? OK, well you better get ready because here it is:

Asa Waters Mansion, Millbury, Mass.

In a small mill town of less than 1,000 people,
a gunsmith built his home with columns and white.
The large mansion stood atop a hill
in the center of town with wrought iron fence.
Beneath the house run tunnels
deep under the dirt and lawn
dank with musty smells.

Dark and huddled beneath the mansion,
waiting for an escape
along the Blackstone River bank
under cover of night.
There are no railroads here,
though the train has moved on the embankment
winding northward under starlit skies.

Today, next to the local post office
atop the river mount, it still stands.
Proud, pristine, and manicured
and the rail zooms on the opposite bank
between Providence and Worcester,
much more efficient than the canal and barge
and the roaming slaves under cover of night.

What did you write today?

For more information about the challenge, go here.