11: Monument to a Missing Island

The longer text on one side of the monument was selected from from an article in the New York Times, dated October 11, 1885.

There was a natural poetry to the news reportage that jumped off the page and spoke to me:

AWAY IT FLEW, THAT VIEWLESS SPARK,

TO LOOSE THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND CHAINED DEMONS

BURIED IN DARKNESS AND THE COLD,

SALT WAVES UNDER THE IRON ROCKS….

FOR A TREMBLING MOMENT THE SUBLIME SPECTACLE

STOOD SHARP AGAINST THE SKY

LIKE A MIGHTY VISION OF DISTANT SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS