Camp Conestoga

Seven glorious summers
spent working
in the dappled embrace
of Anna Page Park.

Save for prevalent poison ivy
and innumerable mosquitoes
it was Xanadu
to both the children and we teens.

Staff intros, group assignments,
name games and the human knot.
Hot dogs roasted over fire
and the woods in all its mystic promise.

All camp games of Octopus
Giants, Wizards, Elves
leaders vs. campers Capture The Flag
Grade D meat "but still edible" for Taco Tuesday.

The trip to the Dam to paint
and play Cat And Mouse
folk songs and ghost stories
hay rides and horseback riding.

Young adults watching over kids
both escaping parents and expectations
relishing a waning freedom
kings and queens of Archery.

A joy so pure and unfettered
unquestionable inclusion for all,
even the tedium of the weekly craft
could not diminish the daily elation.

Camp held endless possibility
adventure and heroism
at every path fork, on every hike
and friendship, for once, near effortless.

But time
erodes all precious things
and camp fell prey to litigation paranoia
and the pitfalls of potential liability.

Ten years gone
Camp Conestoga lives on
in the minds of grown campers
and in the hearts of counselors like me.