SLAM!

"Invalid Item" 

I watched a very pregnant woman cross the bridge
today in Lithia Park,
I was cooling my feet in the cold creek
like I did when we were on our honeymoon
there in Ashland.

Five women in our neighborhood were pregnant
twenty-six years ago, all due in May,
though I doubt it had anything to do
with Mt. St. Helens erupting.
Hazel waited another month, a month late,
before you erupted with her,
again, I doubt Mt. St. Helens had anything
to do with her fragile struggle to live.

I remember looking upstream back in those days,
watching the water descend into my life.
How many things have gone away since then,
now, looking downstream I cannot see them.
Strangely I am at peace with my perspective.

St. Helens bulges again, I'm told,
hopes bulge in mothers' bellies,
water flows downstream.
It is enough for me to feel peace,
even relief,
midway down the creek.

Dale Arthur

** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **