October 4*

like some unending horizontal waterfall
the vast west vibrant water
gripping crisp violet
streaked with deep turquoise riffs
strutting white caps, sharp

and the message is this:
        it is larger, more powerful
        than we can think

on days like this
places like this
we are merely
frail witnesses

*Copyright 2010 by Luther Allen. This poem is included in The View from Lummi Island.