Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore

Rampike is the most distinct symbol in Rising. In the opening chapter, Rush provides its etymology. The word comes from old English. A glossary from the late 1800s “spells it raunpick, and gives the definition as ‘bare of bark or flesh, looking as if pecked by ravens’” (5). Today, the term refers to “trees with bleached skeletons or splintered trunks, those undone by natural forces” (5). Simply put, rampikes are trees that have died due to saltwater inundation.

In location after location, Rush describes these rampikes. While a single dead tree might seem inconsequential, the fact that they line tidal marsh banks around the United States is a sign of a much larger transformation occurring within American wetlands. To Rush, the rampikes memorialize when salt water began to encroach on these environments. They symbolize loss of the individual tree, loss of the wetlands, and loss of communities that called these wetlands home.

To prevent their loss from our collective memory, Rush intentionally uses the actual name of the tree, such as tupelo, in addition to rampike. Rush does not seem hopeful that wetlands will adapt to and survive rising sea levels. However, this does not mean that she believes we should forget about this great loss.