The Humboldt

Dry leaves gather 'neath the madrone tree
Quail congregating in the shade
Spring to action with reckless abandon
At the sound my footsteps made

They'll scurry and bolt and run around
And clank and clang and chatter
But I just stroll along through these woods
And pay them little matter

For they're always along the sides of my trails
Like passerby's saying hello
Hi, how ya doin', well goodbye
We're off to the brush below

With a quick beat of wing
A small glide of flight
An escaping leap
With not much might

Gravity weighs heavy
On these tasseled birds
Holding them close to the ground
Whispering soft words

The wind sings through the pines
With a whistle and a wisp
Crackling the manzanita
Smelling sweet and crisp

Loose rock and rabble
Thick brush for a house
The quails' domain
Shared with hare and mouse

And hawk and raven
And owl and snow
And time gone by
And the salmon below

Old roads not meant
For travel no more
Cling to the mountains
And wait to settle the score

Payback for the years
Of the cut and the groove
To slide down in the rain
How hillsides move

To flush the streams
With silt and sand
And fill in between gravels
A movement of land

Most sawyers felled well
With heart and mind
But a few did not
With deaf ears and blind

Some logging done right
Some logging done wrong
Most mills closed down
As their shadows grew long

Done right it provides
For years and years
Done wrong it does not
With cries and tears

Over peaks and hilltops
Are views that shine
From ocean to mountain
And all that's divine

Salmon and Horse
Green and Moonstone
Ishi and Clam
Big Lagoon the elk's home

Forests of green
With glowings of gold
The giants breath fog
So they can grow old

These forests are wet
Covered in good rain and mist
Drenched most of the year
In the cloud's clenched fist

They breath youth and life
And are constantly growing
They breath change and rebellion
And energy flowing

Grand fir and Red fir
White fir and Redwood
Gleaming and shining
with sap as they should

Up high they sparkle
In the bright sunlight
Dripping their essence
A high rock delight

The region is rich
For the harvest of trees
And now more than ever
Hears the eagle's pleas

With wings spread wide
Over great rivers and streams
Eagle talks business
With cries and shrill screams

Which carry to raven
Who hears every word
And spreads all the news
To its flock and herd

For in the bottomlands
Raven communes and gathers
And yells hello's and goodbye's
And talks daily matters

But up high they pair
And live solitaire
And keep watch and heed warnings
For all others to care

From high rocks and tree tops
They cluck and they clock
Saying this mountain's mine
And this is my block

They keep it for owl
They keep it for mouse
They keep it so quail
Can keep their old house