Notes from the Northwest
I flew away,
Seeing Mount Hood
slouching below,
“A good view from the left!”
the captain said.
I wore the Pacific in my shoes
Through that four-hour flight,
Squished happily in
An exit row,
My soggy mind
Still awestruck
at haystack rocks
& watching for superwaves.
The crash
of the spray
proved
too much for me
In that misnomered ocean.
Take me back to
somewhere landlocked.
I’m ready.
Cradle me in bluegrass
Give me dry shoes…
Find skies undappled
And grayed
by beach mist, rain.
Bring me technicolor-Kentucky
in spring!
That Oregon ocean
Played on my fears,
Enormity.
Randomness …
The gigantine monoliths
of rock
Making jokes
Of everything below —
The mountains arising
from out of nowhere
Like gaunt white waves
Crushing all who
Dare to look.
The West is bigger,
Dominant, does everything
It wants
while
Baring its teeth and
charging
Three hours ahead
of my speed
with less effort.
Leveling
The unsuspecting
With its largesse,
the craggy coasts,
whales,
& unconquerable
Largeness!
Don’t you know,
No one wins
the West?
We’re taken,
instead, by
The awe of it all,
We seek it with
clasped breath —
A daunting theme
For someone
So afraid of
looking
up.
I’m positively
phobic
of being crushed
Tsunami-style —
Swelling as one
with water,
Witnessing the
enormity of me!
Consumed
by emotions
Left lurking:
Ominous,
Tectonic.
Move with caution,
my friend said:
“This is the Pacific.
It hits different.
Whatever you do,
Don’t turn your back
to the ocean.”
So I walked east
backward
As we left the beach
Tripping into this very
memory
Of tumbling on
Rock-
Facing waves,
feeling
small,
filling my shoes
with water.
© Maggie McCombs 2024. All Rights Reserved.
