36 Comments

I never liked poems because I didn't, and still don't for the most part, understand them. I get yours and I feel them. Thank you.

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Magnificent last line with the multivalent associations of the word “treaties” within the poem’s context.

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Thank you, Daniel!

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Beautiful. My girlfriend and I went to Crystal mountain resort yesterday for a hike and then for a gondola ride to see majestic Mount Rainier. We are recent transplants and have been exploring Seattle and its environs. Best to you, Mr. Alexie. I hope we meet up someday.

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Thank you, Lee.

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Wow. Your openness will be so helpful to many people, and what a skilled way to put it all into words. The final line shows great strength: "survive a thousand more". I sure hope so.

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Thank you, Arjan.

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The mountain has been a part of my life forever. As a child when it was obscured by clouds I always thought it was hiding.

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Yes!

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Slight fine line between the magic of poetry and the art of reportage.

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"One thousand broken treaties with my brain" That seems very powerful, for some reason. I have no idea, however, why "All my Exes Live in Texas" suddenly started playing. It is certainly not brain worthy.

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Hahahahaahahahaha!

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Something not good happens to me in the month of September. Thank you for sharing this poem as it has helped my last few moments, moving to the next. I recall living in Tacoma, noting that all Pierce County Sheriff records factually point out that there are more traffic accidents on days when The Mountain ( Rainier ) is ‘out’. Bank on it.

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Looking at Mt. Baker right now from across the Salish Sea so this was the right moment to listen to this. Thank you.

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Serendipity

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Hey, a slight rewrite only an hour after I posted the original. It came to me as I was driving home. I need to complete the circle that connects Mt. Rainier and my bipolar disorder.

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Hey Sherman

I just gifted a subscription to an English friend- I thought I charged it to a credit card but it just appeared on my apple account- just wanted to make sure it did not get sent twice. Thanks

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Does that fact that it is most likely smoke at this point mean anything? I returned from hiking in Garibaldi Park, and day 6 almost obscured Diamond Head... but not quite... so ghostly among the other peaks, yet after 5 days of hiking around, it was in my gut, and the smell in my nostrils and back of my throat. Just thinking... Hiking does that. (And just enjoyed your panel--thank you!)

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I was thinking more of the days when it is fog and low clouds, and not fire smoke, that is obscuring Rainier. And thanks for the kind words about the panel.

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Right... I have recent days on my mind!

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Absolutely. I didn't know how to put this into words but yes. It's like you forgot about the mountain. Something is missing.

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Thanks!

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Later. I have to get ready to be on the red carpet tomorrow night with Billy Eichner for the premier of the movie Bros. I wander if any of the royal family in England are bipolar or depressives? I think I saw a ghost on top of that mountain.

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I’d assume the royal family has a lot of issues considering the long, long history of cousins marrying cousins.

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One thousand broken treaties and yet survival. Powerful. Man wrestling with destiny, getting to the bell, able to come out for the next round

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Thank you, Indran. Yes, always limping forward.

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Wonderful

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Thank you.

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This is so lovely and so relatable. Thank you for what you do.

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Thank you.

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absolutely empathize as a fellow artist with a mood disorder. i will hang this on my wall as a source of solace. xo

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Thank you.

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The world is a little bit better because of your poems. Thank you for the magic.

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Thank you.

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