Hoquiam, WA -- A Poem

I wrote this poem in the summer of 2014, about nine months after I moved to the county of Grays Harbor, Washington, from Indiana. It's been revised a few times over the years, and might be revised a few more, but it still represents some of my first impressions upon arrival.

In a way it's a reaction to Aberdeen, Wash., the town right next door, where I lived for the first few months of those nine, than it is to Hoquiam.

...

Hoquiam, WA

i. In the beginning...

Back here, the dusky edge
between evergreen hills
and a low town,
yellow moss hides
the walk
like unflayed skin

Here, one wouldn't know
that the apocalypse
did not occur

That nature has yet to swallow
our downtrodden
city, wild
vines not quite grasping
this barricade riddled
with graffiti by our homeless
gangs, not tribes

ii. Now...

Our resident scholar
(W. man, in tweed)
twirls his cane but fears
the T.V. is correct,
everything's fucked, evolving
or devolving

Hey, it's all right
now, eternity and
this node we've thought

Ancients encircle
your punk offspring –
who'll squat there chalking
Wicca sign by iPad light –
whispering in her what
to pierce, where to ink,
and to mate

iii. Morning...

To her
saplings burst
evergreen among stumps
like pencils eager
for inspired
fingers, a page, lead

Her tweaker
friend sells writing
sticks and second sight

Soon, he knows,
the elders will teach
when fleeting beasts
offer food, how to build
the whole tribe shelter,
and to love
the story told with trees