antelope and buckskin
defence, fidelity and enterprise
harlequin, nonesuch and sturdy beggar
careening and plunging in a gale.
beating to windward along a coast.
before the wind under clouds of canvass.
fresh away before brigs or frigates
on the wide-spread ocean
durum, red, and white
from rolling amber waves
in frederick, baltimore, harford
york and lancaster.
milled and moved across oceans
feeding armies of empire
and the world.
with star power filtered for a billion years
dispense justice
promote virtue
guarantee harmony
preserve the law
respect property and neighbors
replace ignorance and superstition with knowledge of right and wrong.
inspect flour
cull staves and shingles
measure grain
weigh hay and cord wood.
receive specified fees
to the channel of the river
that penetrated a ledge
wharves of pine cord
one thousand feet.
named when it ran fast and cold
and the channel was glens and gorges
stretching from sunrise to sunset
people had plantations on the water
for the convenience of trade
until it pleased god to increase them
so they would build more close and live in towns.
sixty acres of john flemings farm
with respect to trade
might soon become a flourishing place
he found deep water
forests of white oak
a gently sloping shore.
roads and women and men to come
as ships
assemble from visions and dreams
forty-one pounds sterling
and forty-two shillings
for speculation.
sixteen thousand pounds sterling,
for one hundred thousand pounds of pig iron
shipped across the sea.
then iron for war
