sThe Earth Forgets


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they buried their elders by firs and pines
but the good earth has sucked back their bones,
washed the soil clean.
they who sang sacred songs to the Mother.
who came from the umbilical cord of the Earth.

today they drum,
walk, talk, sell their crafted wares.
they wear suits and ties and drive trucks.
but still they hold their feathered headdresses dear.
their guttural pitch and long cries sound out.
they know their loss.
they listen to the land.
the coyote's eyes still sing
and the woodlands
cast their magic.
they see the old gardens,
shoreline villages,
painted caves and chocked full fish nets.
they, whose fathers and mothers
rode the sacred groves,
wandered the Oregon valleys,
crossed the fertile lands,
and the craggy Steens and Wallowas.

today the vast land hosts ranch houses,
timber yards, glass factories,
fenced fields, industrial stacks,
blacktop, 24-7 restaurants,
and five-star hotels.
rivers run jetboats.
ski lodges offer up hot toddies.

Earth forgets with ease.
auctions off sorrow for so little.
these first people see the splendid blue sky
from which they came.
hear the voices of their long gone elders
who speak without betrayal, like shots in the night,
like brave air, fragranced
beneath the strength of the sun.
the vast lands have forgotten them,
though they not the land.

Lucky

he lurched from the bushes.
stared. declared his presence.
I was staunch, resolute.
no I said.
but he demanded.
he put his chin on my knee.
gave me his two bold eyes.
his red collar said Lucky.
he sat right beside me.
shameless I said.
I jostled.  turned away.
pretended not to notice.
I did my best but his zestful
look had mastery.
humans never greet me
with such affection.
I gave him a half sandwich.
this little fox ate to his pleasure.

I ambled to the park.
sat by a picnic table.
he trotted behind me like my BFF.
no, I said. no more.
go chase a bird.
he refused.
he put his chin back on my knee
and looked straight up.
I broke. 

later I saw him nudge another.
found himself more goodies.
he's not lucky,
I said.
he’s smart.