Ode to the Sock Burners

by Jefferson Holland, Poet Laureate of Eastport, 1995. [Based upon the first Chesapeake Bay sock burning in 1978 in Eastport]

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Them Eastport folks got an odd tradition

When the sun sinks to its Equinox position.

They build a nice little fire along the docks,

They doff their shoes, and they burn their winter socks.

Yes, they burn their socks at the Equinox.

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You might think that’s peculiar, but I think it’s not.

See, they’re the same socks they put on last fall,

And never took ‘em off to wash ‘em, not at all…

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So, they burn their socks at the Equinox

In a little ol’ fire burning nice and hot.

Some think incineration is the only solution,

‘Cause washin’ ‘em contributes to our Lake pollution.

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Through the spring and the summer and into the fall,

They go around not wearin’ any socks at all,

Just stinky bare feet stuck in old deck shoes,

Whether out on the water or sippin’ a brew.

So if you sail into our marina on the Ides of March,

And you smell Limburger sautéed with laundry starch,

You’ll know you’re downwind of the Eastport docks

Where they’re burning their socks for the Equinox.