Steamship Dreams: Vineyard Haven

Steamship Dreams

This photograph captures a moment that feels both still and full of movement—the Steamship ferry gliding out of Woods Hole Harbor at sunrise, its hull glowing in the early light. I took this picture while living in Falmouth, standing close to the shoreline, watching the boat make its steady way toward Martha’s Vineyard. The sky opened wide above the water, streaked with the hush of morning clouds, and for a brief moment, everything felt aligned—the future, the past, and the pull of home just across that stretch of sea.

Though I wasn’t on the ferry that day, I knew it would carry me soon enough. After thirty years on the Vineyard, I had stepped away for a time, but the island never stopped calling to me. Each crossing holds a quiet promise: salt air and soft light, familiar roads and rhythms, community, and creativity. I look forward to returning, not as a visitor, but as someone who knows the tides by heart. To call Martha’s Vineyard home again is to return to a deeper part of myself.

Crossing Back

(seven stanzas)

The ferry cuts a silver line
through the skin of morning—
quiet as a vow,
sure as the rhythm
I remember in my bones.

Sun rises like it always does—
gold burning at the edge
of everything I left
and everything
I’m about to return to.

Sky folds open
in long blue hands—
wide enough
to hold
a whole life twice.

The water knows me still—
my name, my weight,
the way I lean
into wind
like prayer.

I watch the shore pull near,
its silhouette familiar—
not just a place,
but a shape
my spirit fits into.

Here, I’ll plant small things:
morning walks, quiet work,
the scent of tidegrass
in my lungs—
the island rebuilding me gently.

I am not leaving anymore.
I am arriving.
And the island waits
just past the light,
already calling me home.

Giclée Stretched Canvas Print:Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas. Stretched on 1.5 inch pine wood and back wire. Ready to hang
Acrylic Print:1/8 (3mm) thick Digital grade Acrylic with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
Brushed Metal Print:3mm Brushed Metal Print with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
HD Sublimation Metal Print:High Gloss Sublimation on Chromalux Panel with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
Giclée Rolled Canvas Print:Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas
Giclée Poster Satin Photo Paper Print:Giclee print on Resin coated Satin Photo Paper 240gsm
Giclée Fine Art Matte Paper Print:Giclee print on Fine Art Matte Paper
Framed Print:Mounted with Plexiglass and Frame. Ready to hang.