The Rain is Why I Live in Seattle

four poems

Photo by Hafidh Satyanto on Unsplash

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The Rain is Why I Live in Seattle

After two cups of coffee,
a cup of tea—
this is when we pause

and lift our arid souls
toward the ceiling
and breathe

because the gray sky
has yet again decided to baptize,
chastise, and remind us

that water is a deity.

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Courtship


We met and fell in love
as 20th Century Indians
so her family didn't ask me
to prove myself worthy

by giving them 12 wild
horses but if I'd been forced
to take that ancient test
then you better believe

that I would've borrowed
a lasso and saddle 
from one of my rez
cousins and then hiked 

into the wilderness
to do my best.

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Tiny Violin


In the crawlspace, I find
a small mouse skeleton

with three smaller mouse
skeletons curled inside.

Mother and pups
claimed by whatever

wild exists
beneath our house.

Their deaths mean
nothing to the world

but they matter
in mine. So I sing them

an honor song:
Dear Little Things,

I recognize
that you were here

and I’ll remember you
now that you’re gone.

Evening Flight

In the city sky, 
two hundred birds

turn as one.
Hear them rustle.

Hear them sing.
O, my love,

let's fold
together

and become one
thrumming wing.