it was cold come morning
along Raging River
when I came up off the ground
me and the dog
we walked up the hill
and through the meadows
looking for you
but we could not find
the way
it was in
the sun-streaked current
that I saw
that I knew
what had once passed
before your eyes
and it was more
than any ledger in stone
could tell
• •
*for Nicholas Ridout
-
Ivan Doerschuk wrote this poem. This piece is part of a larger collection that was written during a period of itinerant travel in the Pacific Northwest during the summer of 2015. This poem in particular was written after attempting to find the grave of a friend on his family's property outside of Issaquah, Washington.