Turbulent Interfaces

Here on the rim of the bluff
I am above the tops of ponderosas,
eye-level with turkey vultures.
Vortexes of river smell
spin up from below.

Wind pushes me back from the edge,
pushes east. Water flows west
tugging the surface
into rough chop flanked by freight trains
and freeway traffic. Wind surfers race back and forth
like brilliant dragonflies.

I'm on wild land
inside an urban growth boundary.
Behind the hill, at a ragged fence
scrub oak and coyotes meet vineyard and dogs.
This interface is turbulent as well.

Boulders poke out through the long grass
like knuckles of giant hands
clutching the cliff edge.
They're covered with lichen.
They've been here a long time
in spite of turbulence.

Plein Air, Friends of the Columbia Gorge property, Mosier

Collection available! Knocking from Inside