Tag Archives: Columbia River
Bridge of the Gods

Fall colors

What in the name of Sam Hill?
His highway 14 is a string of lights
in this fog, and the river is only
just now visible. Back at the manse
he’s stuck in a frame looking
at his books, the neat sets he
never read, and wonders if he
ought to’ve.
Given his druthers he’d be not in the frame
and not on the road,
but on the terrace overlooking the river,
where no one is rushing around
trying to make, make, make it
before they die.
Dinghy at the bar
O ye gods,
that my rain-tossed pride
should give flataway
and leave me plank-scattered
and scared at this,
the bar
Strainer
You don’t want to hit a tree,
he said
(and I agreed).
And when you go over the falls,
don’t do it the usual way:
get down and hang on,
and if you go under,
make like a ball,
and please,
if you pop up,
don’t float all the way to the Columbia.
Swim to shore and we’ll all have
a better day.
