500 million years ago
a chain of volcanic islands
formed of polychromatic basaltic rocks
crashed into the Jersey Shore
creating the famous Parsippany Pastel Mountains
that grew to tremendous heights
in the western portion of the township
but were eventually worn down
by the
shimmering and glimmering
Rockaway River
that flows into a basin
created by the Wisconsin Glacier
around 21,000 BC and looks like
an old
crone picking blueberries
currently called Lake Hiawatha
in an area called
parsipanong
a word
from a Lenape Native American sub-tribe
meaning “the place where
the river winds
through the valley of the polka-dotted sky”
in an area where the strawberry
boulders
are quite common above which
the oddly shaped stone
formations
that are the remains of the Pastel Mountains
can still be
seen today.
For more fun in Parsippany:
