Similarities

The difference
Between me and the rabbit
Is not obvious.
We both prefer the sun.
We both overreact
To small noises.
Our anxiety keeps us
From starting revolutions.

My machete drips
Green foam
My boots crush pulp of
Devil’s club, fireweed,
Roses, elderberry,
Pushki spraying sap,
Salmonberries.

From below,
The new mountain path
Winds up slow.

I rest my juice-covered arms.
The sea is pinned taut.
Chest-high green
Slopes double black
To a wall of spruce.
An eagle
A tiny prick of black and white
Below us, above the bay.
Flies stick to my machete.

Stilled, I turn to again.
Here, we gather wrack
From an ancient
Tide.

The Plume

I kiss every fish I land,
Smacking the rocks for air.

In each deep hole, the bass
And carp, and salmon,
Point upstream.
They smell every
Water they move through.

Salmon, the nomads,
Rest, sinuous, slack.
In knots they go up
Rapid through shallows.

Upstream, man is
“Reckless and dangerous”,
Watching slow actinide decay.
Some try
To measure the migrations
Of yellow uranium salt runs,
Spawning new life
In ancient aquifers.

I live with
The terrible prophecy
Of a dead river.

A half-lifetime of waiting.