A Face Like a River...

...lies about its intentions

smooth skin over muscles underneath

covers the pointy things

polishes objections into tiny pebbles

has forgotten your name, but keeps a straight face

A face like a river is beautiful...

...and divisive

I purposefully stroke her wrinkled but ageless face

only to find myself an island

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As night approaches, the river and the sun call a temporary truce.

Waves of discontent diminish in the silence

But once the sun is gone, the river whispers...

dark tales of floods and cataclysms

the passing of cultures and gods

emphasizes Good Friday at the expense of Easter...

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...shows me the transitory nature of grass

waits smugly for me to understand the metaphor

a sharp cold breeze...

convinces my bones

"Yes, but resurrection." the sun reiterates.

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Miller Island Expedition: Columbia River Ghost Cult

My brother Fred sent me a checklist of things he didn’t want to forget for our second attempt at a Miller Island Expedition. Foil pans Steak Beer or whiskey/tequila Bacon Shovel TP Bug spray Homebrew Ghost repellents Scouting Miller Island from the Lewis and Clark Highway (Washington side of river) “Ghost repellents?” I asked. Well, it turns out that Fred had been doing some research and found an old article from American Anthropologist by Wm. Duncan Strong called The Occurrence and Wider Implications of a “Ghost Cult” on the Columbia River Suggested by Carvings in Wood, Bone and Stone. The article, written in 1945, revealed that bone carvings depicting figures with prominent rib cages, a symbol of death, were found in old cremation pits on Miller’s Island. Excerpts from the article: “It can be shown that among these peoples there was an old belief in the impending destruction and renewal of the world, when the dead would return…” “One of the most striking fea...

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The Narrative Image

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