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Sharon, Vermont
Joseph Smith was born 23 December 1805 at the time of the winter solstice. He was born in the township of Sharon, which is located in the central part of Vermont not far from New Hampshire. This area of the state is known for granite quarries and berries. Vermont is also the largest producer of maple syrup in the United States. The White River, tributary to the Connecticut River, runs through the township. The Green Mountains, about 20 miles to the west, became famous during the American War for Independence when the fiercely patriotic Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain boys took Fort Ticonderoga in May of 1775. Washington used the cannon taken from the fort to drive the British from Boston in 1776.
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Birthplace
Not far from summer green
of Ethan Allen’s mountains
and granite quarries
that will yield monuments
to famous men,
maples with bare branches,
recently ablaze
in crimson leaves,
stand with torpid sap
waiting for spring.
Where August berries
will bleed purple and scarlet
on hungry fingers,
snow-buried farms
and fields now sleep,
dreaming of new grass
and bleating lambs.
White River ice
reflects a feeble sun.
Vermont lies frozen
deep in weeks
of wool-white winter.
In the lowest rays of
December’s shortest days,
a baby boy is born
and Earth bends toward light.
And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks (Isaiah 65:10).
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