The shape of The Shale Basin,
soon to be wintered, shading
the bed of the Puget Sound,
etching, at anchor, an orbit
in the near-frozen water,
caught between kelp and canopy of cloud.
Low, early December sunlight
casting long shadows, shafting
the surface; an ever-complicated dance.
Slow repetition, return and feign
of steel links rising, animated:
the patient stir and rise.
*
It’s a slow grind education,
this is what we find.
‘Hejira within the hejira.’
Turning on the Puget Sound.
– Howling!
We will lean and learn the breeze.
The bell peals, harmonious.
I will become
the buoy in the bayou.
I will come when you whistle,
on a quilt beneath the trees.
I will rhyme with leaves.
4pm (8am) – a great formation –
of geese – a long shadowed V
across the Puget Sound.
Dali could have painted these.
And below, in your handmade,
on The Shale Basin.
I will orbit you
as you dream…
Here is the corner
where the breeze comes through.
And, here, the salmon ladder.
Hand over hand over hand
up another rung. And ranging.
nickreeves 