Unique…
Carved from bitter cliffs of Lika peaks
Wonderous…
Passing along the miracles of shine –
he shared flames and grew to divine

Ten fingers –
released the forces of giants
His visions and grants –
pushed the torrents to Niagara plants

Wizard…
without hats and tricks
Witchcraft…
without canes and bricks

From caves, mysterious and frightening
he gifted the world with lightening –
Shoreham tower in the skies –
a hint of miraculous wireless device

Gentleman –
making company to sleepless dawns…
With a single move and step –
seven miles along the hills and lawns…
A golden heritage to mankind –
fascinating product of prodigious mind…

Prophet of upcoming time –
deceased in obscurity, without a dime
His soul in storms and clashes –
fortune for planet from his ashes

Source: Tesla Universe

Also published in Barkan, Stanley H. & Neale, Dorothea (editors) Americana Anthology, Volume I: Bicentennial Edition: 1776-1976. Cross-Cultural Communications, 1976.

View poem on the Niagara Falls Poetry Project website

Across the road from this spot is a statue honouring Nikola Tesla, the Serbian engineer who developed the alternating current (AC) transmission of electricity. A competition had been held to find the best way to transmit electricity from the falls over long distances. Thomas Edison proposed using direct transmission (DC), but Tesla's idea won out. It was first tested on October 15, 1896, when electricity was transmitted to Buffalo. The Pan-American Exposition of 1901, held in Buffalo, was illuminated by electricity transmitted from Niagara Falls. It was at this exposition that U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated.

Tesla reportedly got the idea for an AC transmission system from a dream that he had, where he dreamt about a snake eating its tale.

There is also a Tesla statue on Goat Island, in the Niagara Falls State Park.

Should you wish to see the statue and the gardens it stands in more closely, there is a crosswalk just north of this spot.

Click this link to read more about Tesla