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tree meditations and others 221
it cuts through having a purple cast
where it unites chemically with the air -- up country
lie the great lava beds of the Three Sisters,
new, like melted metal poured out
over the mountains, the sharp raw masses
enter the air like hot metal splashed up
and hardening before it could subside.
A sharp thin cold air
moves in hard breezes over the place.
In the distance the Three Sisters -- austere
ones, the three bare cones, snow-streaked.
Guard me, guard me, O Sisters of the desolation
of bare beginnings.
All of it under streaky clouds
that slowly become uniform, then drop rain,
a cold rain. It instantly forms runnels
that head down across the slag, moving fast.
the green cape, with voices
green, Pacifi c Northwest; voices, New York City
-- evergreens gravely
fl ourish below the fog
-- on the beach the gulls stand
in disreputable-looking groups
and appear to be waiting
stupidly for something
but fl y alone, intelligently
-- where we were this morning
greens springing out
above other greens,
greens against greens