Poets in Residence

Last weekend at the Earth Day Retreat, we had two Poets in Residence.  Below are their poems  inspired by the beauty of Ocean Shores.  All photos in this blog (except Rick’s feather photo) are Bill Bauer’s beach  photos from the Earth Day Retreat.  I hope Bill doesn’t mind that I gave his photos titles!

Road Going Nowhere

The road appears suddenly in the sand near the end of the point

Once it was connected to the place where we park our cars

In the past people drove to the end I’m walking towards

This road took families, kids and dogs and now a solo hiker

walks to the conclusion ending in a circle:

parking slots for cars even handicapped ones

I return to the sand with chunks of asphalt piled in a heap,

suggesting a burial mound

I notice yellow dashes separating the roadway,

bike lanes off to the side, but the road is unused

except for birders, fishermen, and beach walkers looking at remnants

of a road that ends nowhere and needs no maintenance
—
Bill Bauer
Seattle, WA

Beach Feather

Earth Day Retreat 2011, Ocean Shores, Washington

Just a plain old
little feather—
without the bird.

The same color as the beach
—no distinguishing features
to tell me to whom it used to belong.

I hold it, I turn it,
I see the finest silt of sand
caught between its hairs.

I see the fine fuzz
at the base, twirl the strong quill
between my index finger and thumb,

and I wonder what I
could afford to lose
that is so beautiful.

Rick Clark