[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Poem


the hawk and pioneer thoughts, a tale of two directions

we were headed west
flying on the sunset
taking the road to the coast
bob said look
two hawks
one swooped from a tree
maybe in a mating move
or a fighting fit
i glanced back at the road
then the whole windshield filled with curved expanse of bird
spanning like a practical joker's hand before my eyes
i could tell you many useless facts
concerning how each small feather strained, refusing to die
but not exactly what kept we three from a short sharp splat

somehow the hawk adjusted
flew over the SAAB's roof
resumed flight
and we motored on undisturbed
we thought it could be an omen
but we knew not
of what

different day
we were headed north
scooting home from sunny Roseburg on five
in the Willamette Valley before Salem i had a sudden thought of pioneers
wondering at the measure of things
imagining walking from Independence MO to here
to find that this fertile valley
was in fact huge
so big that choosing where to claim your acres
was probably a task in itself

would you pick a bit with a good overlook or view
believing in gods and scenery
or instead nestle in a huddle at the base of one volcanic hill
trusting shelter

would you pick a plain beside a creek
or some hook
or bend
which like a fly
caught your fancy

and how then to get from start to stable
food supply
and a cache of stuff
a car,
two,
an old boat rotting out by the barn

then yearning for learning or
an inexplicable love of lars larsen

a life harvesting filberts or wine
selling pups pigs pies
bearing descendants
great grand children

at highway speed history flashes
like an old man glimpsed
he proves sharp as a hawk
catches you unawares

David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon



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