Roger E. Wilde

Hetch Hetchy

Nature's prophet, Muir, knew Hetch Hetchy
Was born of great forces like nearby Yosemite
An incredible twin. "No holier temple has ever been
Consecrated by the heart of man." A grand garden.

Then a city buried our joy beneath cold waters
A mountain temple dammed by "mischief-makers
Of every degree from Satan to Senators." Beauty
Taken from our Nation's people by a selfish city.

I looked down the Tuolumne River and imagined
The beauty Muir saw in Hetch Hetchy, flowered
Meadows, bold Kolana, feathery Tueeulala Falls
Wapama Falls thundering down the glacial walls.

A Nation's wonder now a granite drinking glass
Madam mayor, your "city's birth right" will pass.
We will free Hetch Hetchy from that city's greed
Dismantle their dam to reassert Old Glory's deed.

Roger Wilde 2003

Copyright © 2003 by Roger Edward Wilde
All rights reserved.
This poem, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or materials of the Restore Hetch Hetchy organization.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilde, Roger E. 1953-
Sorting Through Life / Roger E. Wilde
p.cm.
ISBN 0-615-12455-0
Printed in the United States.

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info@hetchhetchy.org

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