Pears - for Nikki, Katie, Julie, and Pat

Pears

for Nikki, Katie, Julie, and Pat - Thank You

We left in morning,

sun at our backs,

roaring down the coast,

howling & skin exulting

in the sunshine and sylvan air

swirling in through open windows

riding high in the saddle of

the Great Vehicle of Creative Destruction

(Coyote, Kitsune, Raven, three thousand blessings)

Each moment dying

and living

in the way only bodies know,

over tide's fingers and clearcut hills

over concrete piers—the mouth of Old Columbia itself!

timber ships passing down below

bellies full of fire of ancient trees,

burning into poison air,

humming with our motor,

beautiful.

-

There,

on the river's hills,

I left you with another family.

Their generosity was immediate,

overwhelming. They gave me

this bag of Asian pears

from their garden--

the taste! Crisp and quenching

in the warm blanket of august noon

Like new stories

among old friends, like underground

rivers, like light and water embracing

there, in the leaves, at last,

in mutual pleasure

I stuff myself

the whole way home.