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Matthew Caretti

Short Gone

Snyder writes, “Streams and mountains never stay the same.” People change, too. This I discover painfully as I arrive in Tacoma, “Night rain wet concrete headlights blind.” Two days later, after the break, I again visit the waterfront.

gliding through
locks’ murky waters—
Sunslip sloop

Jonathan from the Marco Polo reminds me as I check in that “You are not here for the reason you
think you are here.” His words make me wonder, has the trip been a tragic success or a beautiful
disaster? It is, of course, a natural end.

warning bells
dissolve high towers
into traffic

Tucked into a chair at the Fremont Public Library, I read more from Snyder: “Hear phone poles hum . . . Reading books in the back of the University District Goodwill.” We share that calming space. Different eras, different place. But the wind does continue to drive cold rains outside, so I read on.

Fremont Bridge:
leaden skies pour
into matte frames