Fort Worden State Park is 443-acres of fir trees, winding trails, and long abandoned concrete artillery batteries with spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Named after Admiral John L. Worden, Commander of the Monitor in its Civil War battle against the Merrimac, the former Army post is now a popular recreation, artistic, and educational retreat. One section of the park - Memory's Vault - features poems by Sam Hamill... moving tributes to nature and the beautiful surroundings. My favorite is below. Alas it was the last poem Marine Biologist Katrina Kincaid would read in "Rogues."
"Black March Eclogue"
Although it is midsummer,
the great blue heron
holds the darkest winter in its hunched shoulders,
those blue-turning-gray clouds
rising over him
like a storm from the Pacific.
He stands alone in the black marsh
more monument than bird.
He watches the heart of things
and does not move or speak.
But when at last he flies,
his great wings cover the darkening sky,
and slowly,
as though praying,
he lifts
almost motionless
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| View of Mt. Baker from Fort Worden |
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| More Hamill at Memory's Vault |
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