This is the mermaid weathervane that sits atop Old West; the beautiful stone building on Dickinson College's campus that was designed by Latrobe - who also designed our nation's Capitol Building. She looks down on the campus - and a statue of Benjamin Rush, the founder of the college.
During my tenure at the college, I identified with the mermaid (both of us were happy enough to be there though neither of us seemed to fit in) and looked up at her every day as I walked to get a cup of coffee or go to a meeting. I always thought it sad that the college went with a generic logo when it could have developed something really exciting and unique with the mermaid. It could do worse than tap into a bit of the mermaid's magic and joy! (And it did!)
When it came time for me to leave, writing about her was easy:
Broken Symmetry
A kindred Fish out of Water,
she calls to me daily.
Swimming high above with outstretched arms,
she joyfully embraces both the blueness of the sky
and a world ripe with possibilities.
Her urgent beckoning mirrors my mood...
Where did she come from?
Why is she here?
She brazenly bares her breasts to a
ponderous Benjamin Rush
and flagrantly flips her tail
to ant-like mortals who ignore her lively dance.
Attentive only to the seriousness of solemn stone walls
that can smother souls as surely as they can seduce egos,
they pass silently but for whispers to themselves...
Where did she come from?
During my tenure at the college, I identified with the mermaid (both of us were happy enough to be there though neither of us seemed to fit in) and looked up at her every day as I walked to get a cup of coffee or go to a meeting. I always thought it sad that the college went with a generic logo when it could have developed something really exciting and unique with the mermaid. It could do worse than tap into a bit of the mermaid's magic and joy! (And it did!)
When it came time for me to leave, writing about her was easy:
Broken Symmetry
A kindred Fish out of Water,
she calls to me daily.
Swimming high above with outstretched arms,
she joyfully embraces both the blueness of the sky
and a world ripe with possibilities.
Her urgent beckoning mirrors my mood...
Where did she come from?
Why is she here?
She brazenly bares her breasts to a
ponderous Benjamin Rush
and flagrantly flips her tail
to ant-like mortals who ignore her lively dance.
Attentive only to the seriousness of solemn stone walls
that can smother souls as surely as they can seduce egos,
they pass silently but for whispers to themselves...
Where did she come from?
Why is she here?
I cast my eyes upward
and am caught in her gaze.
In the glimmer of that instant
I remember.
I return.
Catching the tide, my heart dances
with the cerulean sprays of deep ocean waves.
Just as it has danced since my beginning.
Only now
I now why.
I cast my eyes upward
and am caught in her gaze.
In the glimmer of that instant
I remember.
I return.
Catching the tide, my heart dances
with the cerulean sprays of deep ocean waves.
Just as it has danced since my beginning.
Only now
I now why.
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