Strange Nature

by Fred Wah

East side of Kootenay Lake
across from Ainsworth Hot Springs
one neighbor one wife
two deer then 5 deer
pair of osprey on pilings
Canada geese still hanging around esp. at 4:30 am
moma wild turkey with about 6 chicks
a few raven and gulls
hummingbirds
only 1 bear poop on road
a couple hornets, no bees
quite a few fir down from recent storm
creek already past high mark
lake coming up about 6-9 inches a day

beckoned
by the smoke tree
“a kind of accomplishment”
chain saw

she gathers the stories
that will clear the fallen fir
is this one of those that will
remember the future
moma turkey’s 8 chicks
in the dream learn to talk
to the geese
then mess around in the undergrowth. shitting

as she listens for the one she lost