A poem written about an animal I hold in very high esteem, the pacific salmon |
summer clings to the tired trees the calm surface masks the pull beneath mist rises and drags my shoulder like a straining sun above the drowning golds and greens hooks in my mouth and fins are being reeled in though I am promised life in truth I will find my death In these streams and pools Of my youth I shudder Forces of stone and of water Are arrayed against me I split the flood And above it heave my muscled shoulder Stained with blood Am I my father I feel within me Myself strain Against the cage of rotten flesh I make the same journey I am as old I heave the same crimson shoulder From the cold The ghost of a dipper My father saw Walks across the river bed And while currents drag From out that hungry torrent I force my father’s flag Beside me Someone is eaten By a bear I wonder if his father Was also devoured there Am I an ignited phoenix I try Shoving my shoulder From the water It does not fly Am I my child The thoughts thud Is my shoulder tinged With his blood My shoulder surrenders And slips beneath I am my son My task is done It’s a relief |