Friday, August 30, 2013

Where is Yakutat?


Where is Yakutat?


Tucked into the forelands, nestled between Sitka Spruce,
Raven and Eagle share with Glacier Bear and Black-tailed Deer.

Without fog, eighteen thousand vertical feet of relief is revealed
On the eve of sunrise, cast in pink, purple, and fiery red-orange

Begets the Coho in the last days of life upon the pebbles
Of the Sitak and the Ahrnklin Rivers, fighting currents.

I ask him What is there to do for fun in Yakutat? Drink, he
Casually admits, and I remember, that’s the same thing we do

For fun in every other hamlet called home, as we’re all left
Alone strumming the chords of our own panoramic hinterland.


Dendrometric Transect


Dendrometric Transect


9 point 2. 3 point 7. 6 point 9.
The graduated metallic tape
Calibrated to 3 point 1 4 is
Held with thumb and index finger,
Using both hands, slipped behind
The girth of her trunk measuring
Diameter at breast height—
As if you’re taking her bra off.
From her rings you know
She’s only 19, but through
The fog, with no fire, you leave
Her and reach for another.




















Photo by Amanda Byrd, UAF ACEP, as seen on FaceBook.

Your Resources


Your Resources

Hemlock and Sitka Spruce stand
dozens of board feet upward,
pointing to the heavens,
pointing to raven and eagle,
where the clouds forget your name,
darkening Disenchantment Bay.