A Part of the History of Rowing

They were early rowers,
the Vikings, oaring their way
out of the north,
many-manned, ferocious,
forcing their culture
on people as far south
as the Mediterranean;

rowers who set in motion
the cataclysmic evolution
of civilization as we live it
today; rowers whose oars
needled the waters
treading the Dark Age
with the necessary

light of realization, a conquering light,
melding the disparate
cultures they found
into one,
the needles of their oars knitting
a tapestry out of water,
a tapestry of which the scenes
are ever-changing.

Philip Kuepper
(29 August, 2013)