Swift her strokes in dizzy
rumble ramble burning
scarlet gulps she glides
crimson Flicker-Tail
no net has gained a purchase
no wall could bar her from her
destination
no words have ever marred
her murmurs to the moon
like red hair that skips a generation
like a royal-blue poppy sprouting along the highway
like long-lost notes to a Requiem
she waits
flip-flopping alone in a shallow canal,
she’s spent her seed
till nothing’s left
but a throbbing center
those lazy breadcrumb-munching mallards don’t care,
they’re watching a grey gull preen himself
then,
trembling-frail,
perched on a rusting shopping cart,
Salmon Woman nods
and the spindle-legged white crane turns
step-dancing, bends and tears out her heart
and
together they ascend
a single silhouette
into
a smog-scented
sunrise.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Jillian Parker.
I appreciate anyone taking the time to read this. It was written after I saw a single spawning salmon in a canal near the Sacramento River. The salmon population in that river is now endangered, after being one of the premium places to find huge salmon.
Reading anything you write, Jillian, is a gift to the soul and mind. Thank you for sharing your magic.