One by one, scales of the Great Fish fall off
The fish is losing its identity, slime, fins
Although the fish breaths, it gasps
Its bay-gills clogged
Gathering silt and invisible wastes
From the creeks, rivers, canals that lead inward
Oil, plastics, sewage, nitrogen
Float into the gills of the Great Fish
Clams and oysters suck it in
Scallops too
The Great Fish slowly chokes

Its flesh has been bought and bartered
Sold and developed
Yearly growth lines obscured by lawns, lots, malls
All manner of manicure rests upon these scales
Patches have become developments
Sampawams Creek hidden behind houses
Multitudes have stripped the Great Fish of its health

At Long Meadow in Commack, there is no longer a meadow
At Hidden Forest in Selden, no hidden trees
At Hidden Pond in Hauppauge, McMansions hide the pond
At Forest Brook, Riverhead, the brook has long dried up
At Timber Ridge, Jamesport, no timber
At Oak Tree Estates, oaks are gone
At Fox Run Estates, no foxes run.

The water for the Great Fish is tainted
As it feeds, it ingests toxics
Stores them in its fat
This great fish is a swimming storehouse of its environment
Its flesh pocked with landfills
In some places, poison has found its way into its flesh
Only its’ bones, the bedrock deep beneath, lay untouched
This Great Fish
Paumanok – the natives called it

Many stringers hold its freedom
Bridges, tunnels, power lines
It flops helplessly, skewered to a metropolis
Oh great Paumanok, free yourself
Float away and swim as fast as you can
Get away from this place
Rest on the bottom of the great ocean
Stay there a long time
Allow yourself to be cleansed

Then, Great Fish,
Come back to reinhabit this place
With new health
Let us come to you with new attitudes
Paumanok
Oh place of shores
Great flukes and bay gills
Oh place of cusping waves and sweet brooks
Oh place of low extending hills, plains, boulders
Oh Paumanok