i

sitting on a comfy couch before the big bay window
marveling at Mama Nature’s scenic slide show—
First comes hail then sleet and finally snow falling
as the wanton wind carries me upstream
past waterfalls ferns spruce and cedar
then up Old Columbia Highway to Crown Point
where I watch snow evaporate in white smoke
rising from a pulp factory polluting the spawning
ground of the sacred salmon and sturgeon

ii

sipping tea in the Daly Café in downtown Portland
after feasting on a salad of eggplant and tuna
then browsing in Powell’s Book store
and worshipping the written word
I purchase “The Confessions of Nat Turner”
and walk out into Portand rain
without an umbrella in the Pearl District
where the year ends with friends
at Huber’s Bar & Grill celebrating

FREEDOM!

tomas 08