~ for a Minnesotan couple in Siuslaw National Forest
An American rainforest, a wild place where flora and fauna grow tremendous,
droned a Forest Service tour guide
I give tours, too, so I know the lines you hold in front of visitors
to yank a gasp from their gnawing esophagus and deflate
their internet knowledge
but I don’t give those kinds of tours.
In a government-owned hotel, we spoke to
a woman in a Hawaiian shirt and a man in white jeans
he told us, the world, it’s a lot smaller than you think
she said, Minnesota, it’s not quite far
most the time, in fact, you carve your own route
yes, even in Duluth
yes, even in Duluth! the man laughed
I didn’t quite get the joke
my mother introduced her hollow laugh and
they kept going.
Bass and salmon painted the cottage wall
vague potentials of vacation! and paradise!
rolling from scaly jaws
a bicycle trail at the beach
so, when you walk on it, you feel sage horns on your back
and in the chimney rock landed a grey pelican
lost, it seems, mistaking Paradise for Newport
he dove into the sea and did not taste salt.
On Tuesday, they were on the restaurant balcony
the fog encircled the rocks
there was no telling the contours of this place
closing my eyes told more
they came toward us
they said hello
Duluth’s genie song roared cold
and I prayed those American edges
covered the scar on my arm.