Time slips by slowly
Under rain soaked roofs
Resting sullen in Mad River bottomlands
Gray haze of ocean and air
And green hills rolling under redwood stands
Our slickers shed the deluge from above
Relentless and determined to soak the bones
Only with grace shall we survive the rising waters
Of life lived between oblivion and these changing tides
Further inland
Mountains can be seen building beyond the hills
Hills cut deep and wide from eons ago
By this slow maddening torrent tumbling down
We roam the ridges
Above this river
And relish in these towering groves
Reaching above sword fern and salal
Edged with tan oak and madrone
Joined with alder and laurel
Air blown in so fresh and alive
You can feel it move through you
Other times
We come upon stranger creations
Smolderings along the highway
Glowing in the waning light of dusk
Dark gray sky
Of cloud and smoke and mist overhead
Deep black green forest
Above the orange light of the coaled understory
Prescribed burn I thought but no one watching
One side of the highway in slow creeping blaze
The other lush and green of Doug fir and pine
Waiting as if it hadn't a care
No one tending to this reduction of fuel
Which could jump the road with anger
And wreak havoc on the hills
Someone assuming it'll be alright
Salmon working hard
To swim against the currents
As the floodgates slowly open
