Mike Bayles: Sylvan Island

Mike Bayles wrote this reflective poem about Sylvan Island, Moline. He is a lifelong Midwest resident, published poet, and fiction writer.

Sylvan Island

I walk on ancestors’ bones
and around the island, restored,
reclaimed as a park
to recall memories.

Somewhere inside a grove of trees
lie remnants, recalling other lives
of the small island’s enterprise,
a steel mill stilled,
a quarry filled.

On the north end water stirs,
captured by dams
to turn turbines for power generation
for others by river side.

To the south a fallen branch lies,
whittled by greater forces
and the passage of time.

I complete my journey late afternoon
and listen to the river’s song
to visit but never stay
and reflect on ancestral ways.