Thursday, July 21, 2022

1830 Sailing

ship's horn, now
deeply drink some breath of sea.

stars upon dark glass, skipping quick
passing yellow float plane's chug
treebound land now slips away
ship inscribes a giant silver slalom.
In channels to the West
isles recline 'pon thin bed of mist.

Scattered o'er these darkened waves:
                       broken rafts of bladderwort.
below these foam-topped shadows:
                       garden of the kneeling serpent.

We, who bask upon the eve,
        transfixed by the glow,
We, who fasten moments in a box,
       spilling words in rivers,
We, who carve white channels on the sea,
       grasping with encrusted nets,
We, who painted gold across our skin,
       posing betwixt petaled lips,
We, who scrabbled postholes into rock,
       weaving toothpicks into quilt,
We, who sailed from the sun,
       gazing fore and aft as Janus,

We, who held our loved ones close,
       sharing moment's warmth 'fore night:

Never know what pass beneath.

Never witness wave's embrace
                      upon the furthest shore.

 

Friday Harbor to Anacortes, WA                     

Monday, July 18, 2022

Tea Chatter

Under dripping morning's moisture,
chatter of the chocolate Percherons
                     19 hands tall
                     standing solid in the stable
                     their muscled jaws
                     grinding sweet fescue.

Chatter of the quality of tea flasks
                     how to remove stains
                     from stainless steel:
                     boiled water & dish soap.

Chatter of footwear
                     shoes soaked clear through
                     from crossing meadow
                     that sponged up
                     last night's random clatter
                     peppering our tarps.

Chatter of the good life
                     living in constructed nests
                     birthing nestlings, whom we feed
                     with tenderness of eagles
                     alighting with some
                                             shreds of flesh
                     on poplar roost
                     mirrored in a lotus pond
                     the fierceness of their voice
                     ignored by grazing geese.

Chatter of the lovers of men, who
                     sampled tofu, turmeric,
                     vanilla, prickly ash;
                     the women left behind
                     to fend for offspring
                     born of fleeting trysts.

                    

Silver Lake, Red Mountain Campground

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Recreational Vehicles

        ever seeking better
        when it's just right now.
        ever calculating
        digits leaking from our fingers
        spilling like ball bearings...

while shimmering of the birch,
restless coinage never lost a cent.

        always there may be delays
        collisions of intent,
        despite our hulking Hemi
        Lariat Super Duty
        we may find our dreams ripped open
        shattered beside highway.

while reeds beside the pond,
feathering the breeze,
gently shelter larvae of the dragonfly.

        our quantum cabaƱa
        fabricated homestead
        affording storylines of comfort
        hauled here with our Powerstroke
        will fill, one day, with dusted cobwebs,
        acrid urine of the rat.
        just as Chrysler's vacant lot
        concedes in web of cracks,
        sprouting hedgerows of the random weed.

while ever rustle leaves of birch
and with their many round fingers
perform piano on the wind

        Never missed a note.


Seal Rock RV Campground