I&M Canal, Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, Illinois –
Whispers Along the Canal
Under a Crescent Moon
Beneath a sky of purple hush,
Where twilight wears a rosy blush,
The crescent moon begins to rise,
A silver thread in fading skies.
The ancient canal lies calm and wide,
Its mirrored depths a velvet tide,
Reflecting clouds like lanterned flame,
And whispering low the old canal’s name.
No engines hum, no voices call,
Just frogs and wind and heron’s sprawl,
Where barges once carved paths through stone,
The water now dreams on its own.
Beneath the arch of oaken shade,
Where time and silence gently braid,
A figure stands, both still and small,
In reverence to the twilight’s thrall.
The past flows here with every wave,
Each ripple marks a dream once brave,
Of settlers, workers, hearts worn thin—
Their echoes held in willows’ hymn.
The moonlight dances, soft and slow,
Across the surface, pale and low,
As if to stitch from then to now,
A quiet spell, a sacred vow.
So here beneath the glowing skies,
The present breathes, the old lives rise—
And beauty, wrapped in evening’s shawl,
Still lingers on the I&M Canal.
