November 12*

the way the water looks.

it was the same for
the cannery workers in the twenties
the same for crews of vancouver’s ships
the same for the paddlers of the long war canoes
          bent on material goods and slaves
the same for the very first
band of human immigrants
          seeking warmth as they
          pushed south from the bering land bridge

and the same before any
human eyes, for
thousands and thousands and thousands
of years.
without us.

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