I

Awoke dazed in the tranquillity of the Michigan

wilderness

wiped the sleep spiders from my black and white eyes

drew all the oxygen I could into my chest

I arose naked in the sun



Drove down cracked northern asphalt highways into logging

towns

where a gallon of gasoline was under a dollar

where the post office and grocery store were one

where bowling alleys had a southern twang

where Nick Adams had rested upon his knapsack



Saw the midnight blue depression of crashing waves upon

limestone rocks

driftwood lay barren and rotting

birds picked at diseased sturgeon

the wind blew in echoes across the beach

picking up stray particles of sand and throwing

them like miniature bodies in a cyclone



Slept under the emerald glow of northern lights

in a stolen tent for one that occupied two

listened to the wooded whisper of nature in the

darkness

heard her tell her children "good night"

knew it was safe for my own dreams to come



Left with memories of men in blue flannel plaids chopping

birch trees

memories of a lost creek &

a stone tablet that held my heart

as an elevated view of an autumn carpet took my breath

I left with tearful puddles of sorrow upon my face