Bethesda Fountain, Central Park (Thursday Doors)

Inside mythical tides
the secrets of our origins
abide.  We begin

as vessels, empty,
waiting for the mysteries
of transformation—

vast, deep, alive.
What flows what moves
through us like water?

What cleanses, what heals?
Fountains echo the music
mirrored in skies of dreams

Bethesda Fountain sits between Bethesda Terrace and The Lake in the middle of Central Park. Known for it’s sculpture, The Angel of the Waters, designed by Emma Stebbins, it has been featured in many films and is a popular destination for wedding photos–there were several couples posing on the day we visited in October.

The base of the fountain was designed by Vaux and Mould, who also designed Belvedere Castle. The water around it contains waterlilies, lotus, and papyrus.

Both the terrace and fountain were named for the Pool of Bethesda, which was blessed with healing powers by an angel, and where Jesus healed a sick man who was unable to reach the pool. Stebbins also wished to celebrate the opening of the Croton Aqueduct, which brought fresh water to NYC for the first time, providing a way to avoid the many deaths of residents of the city caused by contaminated water.

In a reprise of a familiar story, both the Terrace and Fountain were abandoned and had decayed by the 1970s. As one of their first projects, the Central Park Conservancy restored them in the early 1980s.

We began our circumnavigation of The Lake on the west side of the park, moving south toward the fountain. There are wonderful views on every side.

Across The Lake from the fountain is the Boathouse, where you can rent a rowboat. We continued our walk around in that direction.

The Boathouse also houses a restaurant and a cafe.

Past the Boathouse, you enter the Ramble, a popular birding spot. Besides the usual sparrows, blue jays, robins, and cardinals, we spotted a downy woodpecker, and identified many birds we could hear but not see with my sister-in-law’s Audubon app. And of course squirrels were everywhere.

Here’s a view of the lake from inside the Ramble. As you can see, the day was one of very changeable skies.

My poem is a quadrille for dVerse, where De has provided the word what.

You can find more details about the Fountain, here , at the Daytonian.

And look for more doors, as always, at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.