Phyllis Holliday, Abalone Moon Journal

Phyllis Holliday

White Pines

White pines
in their bark
needles yellowing
Underneath
and making different feet out of the ones
We have
like the feet of deer
who also walked there
Or jackrabbits
with faces like mules
intelligent
Jackrabbits with strong teeth
Useless
Having been
In the white pine forest and writing
I cannot take you
There
It is gone
It was never quite there at all
Being
A place fabulous
And the deer
unable to say
what is
Written all over their way of leaping
Song
And any-one
Who walked there
Got into a fable
Loggers with boots
Ranchers half a mile away from the runaway gelding
The
People we misnamed and they took those names and laughed
The ardent jackrabbit
the sullen cow
the gods Coyote
And Raven
famous woven rugs in museums have the pattern
Of the floor of the pine forest
A yellow and sand colored
Place
of the sun
Coyote laughing at puppy-dog who was
No god
Raven, stern and wiser than the night
Night
the
end of it all
I cannot take you there
It is gone
Raven
flew over, saying
Keep
You cannot keep this place
I
Fooled Raven
Such a place keeps in one way
Go there
Coyote will laugh and Raven will fly over again
But if
You are alone
Raven cannot make all things dark
For I
Did not say
the Deer are gods
They are
In dark places
They keep the sun
I go under Raven shadow knowing
This.