this whole headland, one body
a free verse poem for riparian: the banks of our love
praise eucalyptus peel crunching beneath foot
praise offering song, sage, & holy water
praise pipevine swallowtail
& oceanic wind
praise baby deer hooves
on a barely-there carcass
praise hawk flight
praise majesty of the wide view
praise official permits
for writing poetry
praise relationship
praise the place where the San Francisco
and San Pablo Bays flow into
& out of one another
praise scat
& vigorous life springing from it
praise irrelevance of fences
for winged things
praise my own boots & body
taking me across the terrain
praise every name
of every protector
of this place
praise collectivity
praise birdsong
praise wingspan
praise silent sway of seagrass
beneath grey waters
praise the infrequent blue whale
praise the glide of turkey vulture
praise language, praise cursive
praise friendships spent writing
praise meadows which are not forests
praise artemisia sage
& grasses
praise the sun
praise shedding & falling
praise reestablishment of eelgrass beds
& the eventual reclamation of chevron’s lands
praise end of page
praise end of day
praise end of fossil fuel
This poem is one in a series titled, Riparian: the banks of our love, a poetic collaboration for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) with Samantha Wallen and Michelle Puckett.
To read the previous poem in the series click HERE.
To read the next poem in the series click HERE.
Michelle Puckett, MFA is a poet, doula, permaculturalist, coach and Co-Founder of Creating Freedom Movements, a social justice school for activists. All of her work aims to nourish the sacred and make it plain in every day life.
